Run Santana Run
by pleasant-hell
Summary: Brittany's mom catches the girls in the act. It doesn't go like either girl hoped. Inspired by "Run Joey Run".
1. Chapter 1

I don't own glee.

I meant to post sooner, but things happen. There's at least three other chapters worth done. I just have to beta it first. Thanks for reading.

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Brittany is a complete wreck in the passenger's seat of Santana's car. Santana is still in shock. She moves the armrest up between them and Brittany practically falls into her lap, sobbing. Santana just stares at out the window at the empty parking lot of their school.

It started with them messing around on Brittany's bed. The blonde had been straddling Santana and kissing her with her hands tangled in her hair when they started to hear the yelling. It was in Dutch so Santana's couldn't understand it, but she saw Brittany spring off of her and land awkwardly on the floor. Her mom keeps yelling in the foreign language as Brittany tries to explain in the same tongue.

Her face gets red as she glares at Santana and she points to the door. Santana doesn't have to know Dutch to know what that meant.

Brittany just looked at her with a tear-glossed face and nodded. Santana frowned. She didn't want to leave Brittany like that.

The blonde sighed and started to reach for Santana's hand, but retracted it. She folded her hands, pretending that Santana's tan, strong hand was holding her pale, weak one. "Please, San. Just go."

"I'll wait outside the door," Santana whispered as she walked past Brittany and her mom. Once she was out of Brittany's room, she took one step to the left and pressed her back up against the wall next to the doorway.

Brittany's mom continued to yell in Dutch while Brittany, through tears tried to explain. Santana drew on all of her years of listening to the Dutch family to try and figure out what they were saying, but there was a block in her brain keeping her from getting past the fact that Brittany's mom was inside screaming instead of what she expected, which was blush and close the door.

Suddenly, she heard the distinct sound of skin hitting skin. Santana flew back into the room and saw Brittany's hand on her face with a look of complete shock. The Latina sent back a look the practically dared Brittany's mom to hit Brittany again. She was teetering on the brink of blind rage. Only the look on Brittany's face kept her from jumping over.

Just as Santana was about to say something, Brittany's mom yelled a few more sentences, some of them directed at Santana. Brittany has taught her enough Dutch to know that the last thing she said before walking out is 'five minutes'.

Without thinking about what was really going on, both girls started scrambling to get as much of Brittany's stuff together as possible. It took a surprisingly small amount of time to get the majority of Brittany's belongings into Santana's car. It was more than five minutes, but Brittany's mother was nowhere to be seen.

Brittany looked numb before they got to the school parking lot. Then she broke.

After half an hour in the parking lot and three missed called from Santana's mom, Santana decided they should go to her house.

When she stopped outside her house, Brittany was still sobbing uncontrollably. She kept mumbling in her parents' native tongue and shaking her head. Santana really wished she knew what Brittany was saying.

The blonde managed to pull her tears back and wipe off her face, which was still red and slightly swollen around her eyes. There was no hiding that she'd been crying for almost an hour.

Santana got out of her seat and walked to Brittany's side of the car. She opened Brittany's door and knelt down, taking both to Brittany's hands in her hands. She still didn't know what to say. It seemed like anything that she could have offered wouldn't have been good enough. So instead she helped Brittany out of the car and walked inside with her.

Santana's parents saw Brittany as Santana ushered her down the hallway to her room. They both looked at each other then back at Santana and Brittany make their way to Santana's room. Before they turned the corner, Santana shot a look to her parents that said she'd explain later.

Once in Santana's room, Brittany walked straight to the bed and lay down. Santana followed her and wrapped her arms around Brittany, her body shaking from the sobs that wracked her best friend.

Santana closed her eyes and kissed her forehead, still not able to conjure up any words that might help.

After a few minutes, there was a knock on Santana's door. "Santana we'd like to talk to you."

Santana sighed into Brittany's hair. The blonde just seemed to pull herself away from Santana and nod.

"Are you sure?" Santana whispered.

Brittany nodded and set her head on the Santana's pillow, "I think I'm just gonna go to sleep." She sniffled and wiped her face off with the back of her hands.

Santana reluctantly left Brittany in her room, closing the door behind her. She took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen where both of her parents were sitting. She knew she was going to have to tell her parents about the extent of her relationship with the blonde Cheerio, but she wasn't nervous like she thought she would be.

When she explained the whole situation, Santana was surprised when her parents just nodded like they already knew. Of course, anyone with half a brain could see that there was something more to Brittany and Santana's relationship to just best friends.

Finally they turned to the topic of where Brittany would live. Her parents seemed to know what she was going to say and started shaking their heads before she opened her mouth.

"But mom…" Santana trailed off at the look on her mother's face.

"We don't have room, mija," her mother shook her head.

Santana had to fight for this. This was important. More important that anything she'd ever fought for, "But this is my fault. She can have my room. I'll sleep on the couch. I'll get a job. Whatever I have to do."

"You know it's not about that," her father said calmly from the table.

Finally, Santana can't reign in her emotions anymore. Tears start to make their way down her tan cheeks. She managed to choke out a broken, "It's all my fault."

Santana's dad stood up from the table and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around his daughter, "No it's not. It's her selfish, ignorant parents. It would have happened eventually. She can stay here until she finds somewhere else."

Santana knew her parents were right. It was already cramped in their house with the three of them and her brother. However, that didn't stop her from being mad at her parents. They were convenient targets because Brittany's mom was at her house and Brittany's dad was at his condo in The Hague that he stayed at for almost half of the year for business. "It's not fair. Why are you treating her like this?"

"Honey, you know we love Brittany," her mom continued to patiently explain, "And we will take care of her as much as we can, but you know as much as we do that there's not enough room."

Santana looked at the clock on the wall. She'd been away from Brittany for almost half an hour. She just wanted to get back to Brittany so she sighed and finally agreed. "Okay." She wiped her eyes with her palms.

Her dad hugged her one last time before releasing her to go back to the blonde in her bedroom.

When she got back she found Brittany to be in a deep sleep on her bed, hugging her pillow to her chest. She sat next to Brittany and watched her sleep for a few minutes before getting up to start thinking of a way to remedy the situation.


	2. Chapter 2

Santana sent out a mass text to the people she had learned that she could count on for sure, especially when Brittany was in trouble. _Emergency glee meeting. My house. Now._

Once most of the club had assembled in her living room, Santana explained what happened, leaving out some of the details of when they got caught. The look on everyone's face was shock and sympathy. Brittany was the nicest person any of them knew and they all knew how crushed she'd be.

"She could stay with me, but it's already a little crowded," Kurt shot a glare at Finn.

Finn put his hands in the air, "I already said I'm sorry. I didn't meant to step on your 'Liza with a 'Z'' LP. I bought you a new one."

"She can stay in my basement. There's like a couch and TV and stuff," Puck shrugs. Everyone was surprised by the offer, but Quinn quickly killed it.

"It is impossible to sleep on that couch," she stated, looking at Santana.

Mercedes added, tentatively, "My brother just graduated from college and moved back in. Sorry."

A thick silence settles around them. Santana was wracking her brain for something to do.

Then a few seconds later Rachel's voice cut through the air, "She can move in with me." The diva waved her cell phone in the air, "When I texted my dads what happened, they told me to bring her home. She'll have her own room and bathroom. My therapist moved out last week."

Santana bit her lip. If Rachel's dads were exactly like she described them, it would definitely be a safe place for Brittany. There's no way she'd send her best friend home with Quinn. Changed or not, Quinn's mom still creeped her out. Puck would undoubtedly say something inappropriate on a daily basis and try to sleep with her eventually. No one else really had room.

Santana bit her lip, "Are you sure?"

Rachel nodded, "Almost the same thing happened to one of my dads. He wants her to know she has someone to go."

The Cheerios sighed and offered a sad nod, "Thanks."

"We're all here for her," Quinn offered, catching Santana's eyes. The blonde's eyes let Santana knew she was serious. She'd gone through the same thing and the glee kids were there for her. Also, something in her voice made Santana think that Quinn meant she'd be there for her too even though she wasn't the one that got kicked out.

"Yeah," Puck nodded.

Santana was surprised by Puck's eagerness to help, but thankful for it nonetheless.

She heard her bedroom door open before anyone else saw Brittany standing in the hallway, leaning on the doorframe. Santana immediately went to her.

Brittany sniffled although her eyes were dry for the moment, "What's going on?"

"Emergency glee meeting," Santana explained with a pained smile, "Do you need anything?"

The blonde shook her head and bit her lip, "I heard what your parents said."

Santana frowned and cursed the thin walls that her stupid house came with. She hugged Brittany to her, whispering, "I wish you could stay here. I wish we could just move in together."

"It's okay," Brittany pulled away, her face slightly sunken in and her eyes were emotionless leaving her with the features of a zombie. "I'll find somewhere else to live."

"I already did," Santana smiled fully trying to get Brittany to perk up a little bit. She turned around to pull Brittany to the group, "Rachel's dads want you to go live with them."

Brittany kept her eyes on the floor, but looked up at Rachel tentatively, "Really?"

Rachel smiled reassuringly, "You'll have your own room and bathroom. It's yours for as long as you want it. My dads said if you want to move in tonight, you can."

The blonde moved her eyes back to the floor, "Thanks."

"Hold on B," Santana whispered. She disappeared into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later, "As long as its okay with Rachel's parents," Santana glanced at Rachel who started texting again, "I'll spend the night with you."

Brittany nodded numbly and unexpectedly wrapped her arms around Santana's neck. Puck stood up and moved the chair her was sitting in behind Santana. She slowly lowered herself and Brittany into the chair.

Everyone felt terrible that they couldn't help Brittany. They all thought of ways that maybe they could help her. Some of them promised themselves to help her with her homework or let her cheat off their tests. Puck gave himself the position of Brittany's bodyguard. Although Santana had been doing a great job for the past few years, he decided that the whole school needed to be nicer to Brittany and if that took physical violence to force compliance then he was the man for the job.

Santana ran into her room to throw some of her stuff into a bag. All of Brittany's stuff was still in her car so when everyone decided to call it a night, Santana, Brittany, and Rachel headed over to Rachel's house.

Rachel's dads greeted them at the door and introduced themselves before showing Brittany to her new room.

"You're welcome to redecorate," Rachel's daddy said, "And if you want to paint it, let us know and we'll make it happen." He touched her shoulder, "We'll be downstairs if you need anything."

Brittany nodded, "Thank you."

Rachel's dad on the other hand was a little distant. He watched from afar. Santana noticed this and saw a pain in his eyes that wasn't in his husband's eyes. She guessed he was the one whose parents kicked him out.

Brittany immediately crawled into the bed when Rachel and her dads left them alone. Santana crawled in behind her, trying to sooth her best friend. Just as she thought Brittany had gone to sleep, Santana felt Brittany's body start to shake with silent sobs. Tears started to pour out of her own eyes into the dark, hating that she couldn't make Brittany feel better, hating Brittany's parents for doing this to her and hating the world that made a mother that couldn't accept her daughter no matter what.

In the morning, Santana had to drag herself to school because one of the conditions her parents set forth the night before was that she could go stay with Brittany as long as she went to school the next day. Brittany stayed in bed, as Santana got ready then turned on her portable stereo and went to sleep again when she left. Her dreams were so much better than reality even when she was having nightmares.

The head Cheerio went through the motions all day, just showing up to class, sitting there for an hour and then leaving. If you asked her what they studied that day in any of her classes, she'd have no clue. During Cheerios practice, Santana just went through all the routines like a robot. Even when Coach Sylvester yelled at her, her expression didn't change. If she wasn't head Cheerio, she wouldn't have even gone and she didn't even remember that she was part of the glee club. Before glee practice was supposed to start, Santana was already in her car.

Santana called Rachel the second she got home from school. "How is she?"

"She hasn't come out of her room. She's also still listening to Coldplay which Puck has informed me is a bad thing," Rachel explained.

"Puck told you?"

"Yeah," the songstress added, "He came over to check on her. He's still here. So are Finn and Kurt."

Santana sighed, "I'll be over in a few. I have to stop by the grocery store."

Brittany barely looked up from her pillow when the door opened. Santana walked in with the biggest ice cream Sunday she'd ever seen.

"I brought you something," Santana sang and smiled hopefully. She balanced the enormous bowl on one hand while turning the stereo down with the other hand.

When Brittany didn't move, she sat at the end of the bed and set the bowl between them. Santana picked up the spoon, "C'mon B. Don't make me eat this all by myself. There are brownies and Oreos at the bottom."

Brittany picked her head up a bit and saw the mountainous pile of ice cream. She slowly sat up and took the spoon Santana was offering her.

Santana was scared to say anything so she just watched Brittany take slow thoughtful bites. Then she smiled when the blonde offered her a bite.

After most of it was gone, both girls laid back on the bed side by side.

"It's not your fault," Brittany said in a hoarse voice that one can only get from hours of gut wrenching sobs.

Santana immediately felt a pang of guilt in her chest. She still felt like the situation in it's entirety was her fault and she felt horrible every time someone brought up her involvement. But she didn't say anything. She didn't want Brittany to get upset and start crying again. It broke her head every single time.

"I love you San," Brittany sighed and stared at the blanket under her.

Santana sat up and took Brittany's hand, "I love you too."

The blonde shook her head, "I'm in love with you."

Santana's eyes widened. She wasn't ready for a confession like that. It caught her completely off guard. She opened her mouth to answer, but Brittany cut her off.

"I don't want you to say anything," Brittany added quietly, but firmly, "I know you're trying to make me feel better and you'll say it back even if you don't mean it so I won't cry again." She looked innocently up at Santana, "I just told you so you know they didn't kick me out for just fooling around with you. They kicked me out because I'm in love with you. And it's okay."

"How is it okay?" Santana asked incredulously, blinking back tears. She'd never heard such profound words from her best friend and wanted to know how she came to that optimistic conclusion.

"I just know," she let out a smile at seemed relieved, "I have the greatest friends in the world and I have the best, best friend in the world."

Santana smiled back, "Thanks B."

Silent tears started to trickle down Brittany's face, "You really are the best friend anyone could ask for."

The dam that held the tears and emotion behind Santana's eyes broke. She sniffed and wiped her eyes, "I don't feel like it."

"Well this Sunday counts for a lot," Brittany grinned and took another bite.

Santana giggled and sighed. She was the one that was supposed to be consoling Brittany and here she was bawling her eyes out with her best friend trying to make her laugh. She wiped her eyes and held the blue eyes she loved so much, "Are you feeling up for some visitors? Puck, Finn, and Kurt came over to see how you were."

Brittany let out a smile that was a mixture of sadness and happiness. She nodded, "I'm going to go pee first. Rachel's dads kept bringing me water all day."

Santana raised an eyebrow and watched Brittany walked into the bathroom. When the door closed, she made her way downstairs and to the living room to find that the group waiting for news had grown. Quinn and Mercedes were now downstairs and there was a mess of food on the table.

Rachel was the first to look up from the somber group, "How is she?"

"She'll be down in a sec," Santana nodded, "She said she'll be okay." She paused in the doorway, "And I wanted to thank you guys for supporting her. This is really rough." Santana looked at Quinn who nodded knowingly.

Santana sat down on the loveseat and watched the doorway, waiting for Brittany to come down.

When the blonde showed up she was met with tentative smiles, but when she smiled back genuinely, they all seemed relieved.

Quinn was the first person to speak, "How do you feel?"

Brittany paused and lowered herself onto the floor in front of Santana, "Tired." She leaned back on Santana's legs and the brunette spread them a little so Brittany's back would rest on the front of the couch. Then she started thoughtfully playing with Brittany's hair.

"We brought you some food," Finn said hopefully, "But we weren't sure what you liked…so we got everything."

Brittany smiled graciously, "Thanks." She hadn't really eaten since it happened. Well, nothing more than ice cream. She surveyed the food and asked, "Can you hand me a burrito?"

Everyone, but Santana moved to get her one. Kurt was the quickest on the draw and handed it to Brittany. She smiled in a thank you.

The blonde took a bite of her burrito trying to keep herself together. She kept telling herself she was okay and she'd have moments when she was actually okay. She really appreciated all of her friends coming to check on her, but all she really wanted to do was curl up in bed and cry for a few weeks.

So she decided to steer the conversation away from herself, "How was glee?"

Everyone looked to Rachel, mostly because she was the only one that actually went. Finn and Kurt went and got the food Brittany was eating. Puck came right over after his last class. Quinn went to go yelled at, and possibly beat up, Brittany's parents and Mercedes went to stop Quinn.

She bit her lip because even she didn't stay the whole time. When Mr. Schue asked where everyone was and Rachel explained, he asked everyone else if they wanted to continue with practice. Before the four other people in the room could answer, she vigorously shook her head. "I should go."

"It was…uneventful," Rachel replied, "We cut practice short because Mr. Schue had an appointment."

"What kind of appointment?" Brittany added.

Ever being quick on her feet, Rachel immediately said, "Dentist."

The blonde nodded, accepting the answer that Rachel just fabricated. She leaned into Santana's touch and closed her eyes. "I bet I have a lot of homework."

"I brought your Spanish homework," Quinn interjected.

Mercedes nodded, "And I have your homework from the classes we have together. And I copied all my notes so you'd have them."

Brittany forced yet another smile. This time it wasn't as convincing as the others.

Santana finally suggested a movie. Suspending reality for two hours seemed like a good idea for the moment.

Before the movie started, Puck leaned over and whispered something to Finn. The quarterback nodded. Puck stood up and silently left. Finn gave Kurt the car keys and told him he'd meet him at home receiving a curious nod from his roommate.

Brittany laid back into Santana who carefully trailed her fingers up and down Brittany's arms as if, if she touched her too hard, she'd break.

Truth be told, Santana was surprised at the outpouring of love and support for Brittany from the glee club. She expected a few 'I'm sorry's but the gleeks had all gone out of their way to help Brittany and make sure she was okay.

After the movie was over, Kurt and Mercedes said that they needed to get home and Rachel walked them to the front door. Kurt and Mercedes made her promise to take care of Brittany when Santana wasn't there and not to diva out on her. She promised with a shy smile and opened the door for them to leave.

Kurt's eyes went to two boxes on the ground. Out of the top of one of them, stuffed duck was peeking out.

"That's Brittany's stuff," Kurt knelt down next to the boxes and lifted one of the flaps. "I saw them in her room once."

Mercedes looked around outside, "Who left it here?"

Kurt pulled the car keys out of his pocket, "Finn hates when I drive his car. He's scared I'll scratch it or something. He wouldn't let me drive it unless it was really important or he didn't want it identified as the getaway car."

"You think Finn did this?" Rachel asked.

"I think he had some help," Kurt stated, picking up one of the boxes.

Rachel hefted the other one and they walked into the living room.

"What's that?" Quinn was the first one to see them walk in with the boxes.

"It seems our football players did a little B&E to get the rest of Brittany's stuff," Rachel set her box on the coffee table.

Santana looked at the blonde in her arms who had fallen asleep again. Then she looked up at Rachel, "Are they here?"

"Nah," Mercedes shook her head, "They just left it there."

Santana thought for a moment about whether or not to wake Brittany up. In the end, she knew Brittany had to move up to her bed to sleep for the night so she dipped her head down so her lips were right next to the blonde's ear, "Hey, B. Wake up."

Brittany's eyes shot open and she let out a shudder. She shrank into Santana's arms and let out a relieved sigh. She mumbled to where only Santana could hear, "I had a nightmare."

Santana rubbed her back, "It's okay. It wasn't real. But Puck and Finn went and got you something."

The blonde peeked out of the shelter of Santana's arms and saw two boxes on the coffee table. Out of her, her stuffed duck was hanging. She smiled and sat up, "My stuff."

The next day at school in the middle of the hallway before their first class, Brittany made a b-line for Puck. She wrapped her arms around his middle. He stiffened, a little surprised, but when he saw Santana on the other side of the hallway with an approving nod, he hugged her back.

"Thanks for getting my stuff," She quietly added, so none of his friends could hear.

He smiled down at her, "If the cops ask I didn't do anything."

She chuckled and looked up at him, "Okay."

Puck gave her a gentle squeeze, "Call me if you need anything else 'kay?"

Brittany nodded into his shoulder and then pulled away, walking back to Santana. The head Cheerio linked her pinkie with Brittany's and they walked off, cheerleading skirts fluttering behind them.

"Dude did you finally score with Brittany?" one of Puck's football player friends asked, "Took you long enough."

Puck hauled off and slugged the guy in the arm, deciding it was best to not hit the guy's face like he wanted to, "Don't talk about her like that. You don't know what's going on." Puck huffed and walked off, leaving the other football players to look after him with complete confusion.

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I was going to update earlier, but I got a slow start today. I just had my morning coffee and it's already 2:30pm.

Anyway, I'm looking for more music to base my stories on or use to start a whole new story with. If anyone has any suggestions or requests I will gladly consider it. Keep in mind I usually only write Santana/Brittany and Quinn/Rachel with the exception of some Santana/Brittany/Puck smut that I wrote when I was in a weird mood. So...songs and suggestions. You can review or PM me or whatever.

Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Things started to die down around Brittany and she returned to her normal routine of school, Cheerios, glee, then home. Santana came over often, but they didn't have much private time because of Rachel's dads' open door rule. Brittany didn't mind though. For now she just wanted to cuddle with Santana and do normal things like doing their homework and painting their nails. She yearned for all the normalcy she could get.

A few days later, Santana sat in the forth to last row of seats in the auditorium. Brittany had found a new love and solace in dancing and Mr. Schue couldn't deny her that. So he reserved the auditorium as much as he could so Brittany could have the entire stage to radiate her feelings.

Santana had an open math book in her lap, but her eyes were glued to Brittany's movements. The blonde conveyed all her pain and disappointment into a dance that would win awards all over the world, but Santana was the only one to see it.

"She's beautiful," a heavily accented, but familiar voice said from the row behind her.

Santana turned around to find Brittany's dad. His blonde hair was parted on the side and his green polo was crisp and ironed. It was obvious where Brittany got her eyes from.

He handed Santana an envelope, "I've written a letter to Brittany and enclosed some money. I'm going out of town on a business trip tonight, but when I get back I'd like to see her." He paused, "I disagree with her mother on this. She's my little girl and I love her no matter what. And you're a good girl."

"Why didn't you stop her?" Santana asked a little agitated.

He sighed, "I wasn't home. If I was, I would have. I want to talk to her now, but I don't want to…how do you say…blindside her?"

Santana nodded. She understood. The shock of Quinn seeing her mom for the first time in nine months sent her into labor. There was no telling what it would do to Brittany. "I'll talk to her."

"May I send her another letter to your house?" he asked carefully, "She may not want me to know where she lives."

Santana nodded again. She was surprised at how much thought he put into this, but she guessed he had time. His fourteen-hour flight from his office in The Hague to his office in Lima probably gave him a lot of thinking space. She reached into her backpack and slid the envelope in while taking her wallet out. She opened it and pulled out a picture of Brittany that she took right before her mom threw her out. She handed it over the seat to her dad. She wanted him to remember that Brittany was the little girl he always loved and maybe he'd talk some sense into her mother.

A wave of sadness took over his strong features and the area around his eyes got red like Brittany's does when she's about to cry. He stood up and patted Santana on the shoulder. He told her something in Dutch that Santana had learned meant 'Thank you.'

She nodded and watched him leave. Then she turned back to Brittany who was still dancing her heart out, oblivious to the world around her. She looked down at her backpack that contained the letter. She wanted to open it and read it before she gave it to Brittany, but that seemed like an invasion of something special. She felt someone sit next to her and her head shot up.

"How'd it go?" Quinn asked.

Santana shrugged, "I dunno. Did you tell him where I was?" Movement caught the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see Rachel sitting a few rows behind them, mesmerized by Brittany.

Quinn nodded, "He was walking down the hallway when I stopped him. He said he wanted to see you to talk about Brittany. I think it's a good idea. I mean when my dad kicked me out, I would have done anything for my mom to have come after me."

"Well you got what you wanted," Santana turned her head back toward Brittany who was doing her post-dance stretch, "I just want Brittany to have what she wants. I'll tell her about her dad tonight. Can you come over to Rachel's?"

The blonde next to her nodded, "My mom's still trying to make it up to me that she ignored me for nine months so I can pretty much do whatever I want."

When she saw that Brittany was ready to leave, Santana shoved her math book into her backpack, "Thanks Q. You've been really…great through this whole thing."

Quinn let out a sad smile, "I know what's its like. Especially with no one to count on but your friends. Plus, Brittany never deserved this."

The dancer walked up the stairs to them and stood in the isle waiting for Quinn and Santana to reach her.

"You're amazing," Quinn smiled and hugged Brittany.

Brittany grinned back, "Thanks."

They all slowly made their way to Rachel's house. When they got there Rachel's dad had make muffins so they all grabbed one and sat around the table.

The envelope in Santana's backpack felt like it was burning a hole through her skin so she dropped the bag on the floor under her chair and picked at her muffin.

Rachel's dad bent over to pick it up, "Here, I'll put that in the foyer for you."

"No," Santana said quickly and immediately. She got strange looks from everyone at the table and Rachel's dad. "I mean, we're going to study later. I'll just take it up to Brittany's room."

When she bent down to retrieve her backpack, she heard Quinn murmur quietly so only Santana could hear, "Real smooth. No suspects anything now."

Santana just glared at her and started to make her way upstairs.

When they'd all finished with their after school snack, Santana and Quinn led a curious Rachel and oblivious Brittany upstairs.

They all sat on Brittany's bed facing each other in a tense square. After a few minutes of silence, Brittany looked at each of the three girls, "What's going on you guys?"

Santana paused for a beat before reaching down next to the bed and pulling up her backpack. She slowly unzipped the front pocket, pausing to push some stray hair behind her ear and then pulling out the letter. She carefully placed it on the soft surface, between all of them.

Brittany saw her name on the front and her eyebrows furrowed in thought. She carefully picked it up and turned it over in her hands.

"You're…um…dad came to talk to me while you were dancing," Santana let out in a quick burst of words.

The blonde's eyes shot to Santana. She didn't have to ask the question because somehow Santana knew what she was going to ask.

"He didn't want to surprise you."

Brittany dropped the letter back on the bed like it burned her, "I-I can't…" She looked up her best friend with terrified eyes, "Will you open it?"

Santana slowly nodded and reached forward to pick the letter up.

Rachel gently placed her hands on Brittany's shoulder, "Do you want us to leave?"

Brittany looked from Rachel to Quinn and back before vigorously shaking her head. Quinn took Brittany's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze while Santana slowly opened the envelope. A wad of money fell out that was folded in half and held together with a rubber band. No one touched it, but Rachel visually counted it and if all the bills were the same then there was at least five hundred dollars in it.

Santana unfolded the letter and scanned it. She sighed and caught Brittany's eyes, "I can't read this B. It's in Dutch."

Brittany nodded and took the letter from Santana like it was a mine that would explode if she dropped it.

It was short, but she read over it twice. Finally, she sighed and folded it back up while the other three looked on expectantly.

She bit her lip and stared a hole in the bed before tentatively looking up at Santana, "He wants me to go live with him in Holland."


	4. Chapter 4

Santana's heart started ramming against her chest in every direction. That was the last thing in the world she wanted. She'd rather be given a regiment of three slushie facials a day and be kicked off the Cheerios. Screw that. She'd rather Coach Sylvester perform an appendectomy on her with a dirty plastic knife from the school cafeteria than for Brittany to move to another continent.

Rachel finally asked the question everyone was thinking, "Are you gonna go?"

"I…I dunno," Brittany looked at Santana who wouldn't look back at her.

Her eyes ripped from Santana when Rachel touched her forearm, "You're welcome to stay here as long as you want."

Brittany nodded, "Thanks." She stood from the bed and smoothed out her shirt, "I'm, uh…I'm gonna go for a walk."

Santana started to move to stand, but Brittany stopped her with a soft hand on her shoulder, "I'll be back soon."

The head Cheerio sat on the bed, stunned. She watched Brittany walked out the door without her. Her breathing started to get shallow. She fought off tears with all of her infamous will power, but they were coming too hard and too fast to stop. She leaned forward and fell face first into the bed. Two sets of hands were immediately laid on her back, trying to sooth her.

Rachel excused herself a few minutes later to go downstairs and get Santana a glass of water. She wasn't really good with people that were crying so she took her time and let Quinn do the friend thing.

"Where'd Brittany go?" her dad asked, setting the mail on the kitchen table, "She looked preoccupied."

"She went for a walk," Rachel answered and walked over to her dad. She leaned into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her, "Her dad gave Santana a letter for her and he wants her to move to Holland with him. She went to think about it and Santana's upstairs crying because she thinks Brittany is going."

"Is she going?" he asked rubbing Rachel's back.

"We don't know," she sighed into her dad's button down shirt.

He rested a hand on the back of her head, "Did you tell her that she's welcome to stay here as long as she wants?"

"Yeah," Rachel nodded.

He took a deep breath, "I love you baby girl."

"I love you too daddy," she answered.

"Are you using a new conditioner?" he asked to help ease the tension.

It worked and Rachel chuckled. She pulled out of her daddy's arms, "Yeah. Do you like it?"

He nodded, "Smells good. Go tell Santana and Quinn that they're welcome to stay for dinner."

"What are we having?" she asked starting to make her way to the door.

"Stir fry?" he asked, with a slight smile.

She grinned, "Great." Then she turned and started to leave.

"Hey Rach," he stopped her, "Forgetting something?"

She turned around as her daddy poured a glass of water. She walked over to him, hugged him again and walked upstairs with the water.

Rachel didn't think the water thing would work with Santana like it had been with Brittany. She even thought that she might end up wearing the water after she offered it to Santana, but she was going to try anyway.

When she got back to the room, Santana was pacing the room with her arms crossed and her head down as she chewed on her lip. Her tears were still wet on her face, but no more were falling. Rachel held up the water and Santana took it before turning on her heel and pacing the opposite direction. She chugged down the water and handed the empty glass back to Rachel on her return lap.

"What's going on S?" Quinn asked, perched on the edge of the bed, "You only pace like that when you're planning something."

She shook her head, "I'm trying…I just can't." She sighed and fell back onto the bed, "I can't think of anything. I thought walking would make things come, but…there's nothing I can do." The tears started to fall again, "What am I gonna do?" She stood up again and walked over to the box of stuff that Puck stole. The last thing in the bottom of it was the stuffed duck she gave Brittany a few months ago. She hugged it to her chest, "If she leaves, I'm stuck in this stupid town with all these stupid people. She was the one that wanted to try out for the stupid Cheerios. She can't leave me."

"She hasn't even decided yet," Quinn tried to assure Santana, "You don't know what she's going to decide."

Santana shook her head, "I have to go." She yanked open one of the drawers in Brittany's dresser. She pulled out some shorts and changed right there, not caring that Quinn and Rachel were in the room. She borrowed a pair of Brittany's running shoes and laced them up. "I have to go for a run." She picked up her cell phone off of the nightstand, "Call me when she gets back."

Quinn nodded and watched Santana leave before looking at Rachel and shaking her head. She fell back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, "I've never seen her that upset. She usually just paces for a few minutes, comes up with a plan, and then slushies someone." She rolled her head to the side to look at Rachel, "Usually you."

"Glad to know I could help," Rachel rolled her eyes.

Santana ran until her legs were on fire and wind whipped until they were red. She slowed to a trot and then to a walk. She looked around to see where she was, finally out of her own head enough to realize how far she'd actually gone. She had run halfway across town. She was standing next to the park by the house she used to live at when she was a lot smaller. It was the park where she met a little blonde, blue-eyed girl with a slight accent and a white and pink polka dotted dress. A small smile came to her face as she remembered the strange way little Brittany spoke and how when Brittany got frustrated, her slight accent came back.

It was past the curfew for the park and the gate was closed, but Santana easily hopped the fence anyway. She started walking around the park where memories started popping up in her mind. Then she saw the dome shaped jungle gym that she used to sit on top and rule the playground with Brittany by her side. She smiled. Things hadn't changed much since then. She was still the queen bee and Brittany was always right next to her.

Nostalgia took over and Santana climbed to the top. She sat in the spot she used to sit in and watch everyone. Then she looked at the phone in her hand. She had no missed calls and no texts. The cool evening air blew a few stray strands of hair out of her face that had fallen out of her ponytail as she was running.

She sat on the metal structure for a few more minutes, hoping that something would happen so she'd know what to do; a sign or an omen maybe although she never really believed in that stuff.

Her phone buzzed in her hand. She quickly looked at the text message that appeared on the screen. It was from Brittany: _I see you._

Santana's head shot up and she scanned the area around her. She finally spotted Brittany sitting on top of the slide, her knees pulled to her chest. Santana dismounted the small jungle gym and walked over to the slide. She stood on the ground next to it, looking up at Brittany, "How long have you been here?"

Brittany shrugged, not unwrapping her arms from around her legs, "I dunno. A long time."

Santana nodded, the weight of her current reality crashing back down around her. She didn't want to bring up the fact that Brittany could be leaving. She chose to ignore it. Instead she moved to the ladder and slowly climbed up to the top of the slide. Then she took a seat behind Brittany and put her legs on either side of the blonde, leaning forward into her and wrapping her arms around her middle.

"Estoy enamorada de ti," she whispered into the cool dusk air.

Brittany turned her head to look at Santana and asked what that meant. Instead Santana said, "Let's slide down and go back."

The dancer nodded and leaned back into Santana as the Latina pushed them off. For a few seconds it was just like they were young again, flying down through the warm, thick air.

When they reached the bottom, Brittany put her feet out to stop them. They stayed at the bottom of the slide, just being close to each other for a few more minutes. Finally, Santana called Quinn and asked her to come get them. Neither one of them said anything because they were both lost in their own thoughts.

Brittany's hand brushed against Santana's thigh, "Nice shorts."

Santana smiled and rested her chin on Brittany's shoulder, "Thanks. I borrowed them from the hottest girl in school."

The blonde chuckled, "You can't borrow shorts from yourself silly."

Santana dipped her head down and gently kissed the curve of Brittany's neck. The first kiss she'd received from Santana since the night her parents kicked her out. Brittany moaned at the tender contact. After not having it for almost a week, Santana's touch had become all that more potent.

Brittany turned her head to she could capture Santana's lips. The kiss was tentative and cautious, just like the first time. Brittany pulled away just a little so that her nose was barely grazing Santana's. She let out a small sigh and laid her head on Santana's shoulder.

The head Cheerio closed her eyes. She'd missed Brittany's kisses. She missed them a lot. The lack of contact had made her grouchy toward everyone who wasn't Brittany. She yelled, slushied, and shoved until she felt a little better, but then she felt like she was missing something again. She just didn't want to push Brittany into anything, especially the thing that got her kicked out in the first place.

They sat like that until they heard Quinn's car motor up. She parked on the curb with Rachel in the passenger's seat. They hopped the fence together and crawled into the backseat.

"Thanks Q." Santana said as Brittany laid her head on her shoulder again.

Quinn just nodded, catching Santana's eyes in the rearview mirror, "How was your run?"

Santana just shrugged, "It was okay." She pulled Brittany to her and the blonde willingly laid her head down in Santana's lap. Santana bend over and kissed Brittany's temple. She whispered, "Estoy enamorada de ti."

Brittany once again looked at her with questioning eyes, but Santana pressed their lips together, preventing the sound from coming out. It was the first time since they got caught, that Santana had kissed Brittany fully. Brittany brought her hand up and tangled it in Santana's long dark locks, all her breath rushing from her lips to Santana's.

The head Cheerio gently cradled Brittany's cheek with one hand and stroke her hair with the other. There was so much Brittany was telling her in the kiss and she was trying desperately to hear everything she was saying. The thing that stood out the most was need. Santana could tell that Brittany needed her. Over the past few days Brittany had become strong. She had learned to fend for herself and she take care of herself, but there was one thing she needed from Santana. She needed Santana to love her.

Santana tried to pour herself into the kiss, pushing her soul toward Brittany's through her lips. She wanted to be everything Brittany wanted her to be and more.

When they got back to Rachel's house, they all got out of the car. Rachel led the way up the front path while Santana lagged behind, her hand reaching out and taking Brittany's. "B?" her voice was weak and scratchy.

Brittany turned around and looked at Santana. She looked like she was about to tell her something. Santana opened her mouth and closed it. She took Santana's other hand to hopefully coax out what she was going to say.

"I um…" Santana looked into Brittany's eyes and all the courage she had built up vanished. She shook her head telling herself that it was selfish telling Brittany that she was in love with her in English. She'd been telling her in Spanish because it was safe that way. Brittany didn't know what she was saying. But telling her in English might influence her to stay even if she doesn't want to and as much as it breaks Santana's heart, she wanted the blonde to be happy be it in Lima or the Netherlands.

She just shook her head again and hugged Brittany. The blonde relaxed into the hug, but was a little annoyed with Santana for not being able to spit out what she was saying, although she knew Santana enough to nearly figure out what she was going to say.

"Goodnight," Santana said into her hair, "I'm going to go home."

Brittany sighed and nodded, "Goodnight." With one last squeeze, Brittany released Santana and walked inside.

Brittany lay in bed and stewed all night about what Santana couldn't say. She started to get more angry and annoyed until she finally took out her phone and made a call.

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed. I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed.

I don't know how soon I'll be posting again soon. I'll try to remember to later today, but it is my birthday so I can't be positive my friends will let me remember much of it :) Anyway, the next two or three chapters are done although I'm debating whether or not to scrap the last one and do a complete rewrite. It shouldn't effect that consistancy of my updates though.

Anyway, Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

When she walked into school the next day, earlier than usual she saw Mike talking to Santana in front of the choir room. He was obviously flirting with her. Santana wasn't having it, but Brittany was furious with Mike for trying.

She took out her phone and stepped into an empty classroom, placing a call to Santana.

Santana walked back into the school with the two slushies Brittany requested. She wondered about the blonde's sudden craving for slushies. Coach Sylvester would have her running laps for an hour if she found out Brittany drank two by herself.

She found Brittany leaning on her locker, talking to Kurt. The boy clenched his fists when Santana walked up with the slushies. He seemed relieved when she handed them off to Brittany.

Without another word, Brittany walked down the hall and tossed one of the slushies into Korofsky's face. Then she took five steps to the right where she was facing the back of Mike. She tapped his shoulder and as soon as he turned around her was met with a face full of purple slush. As she threw it, she moved her arms up to the remaining slushy rained on his head.

Santana and Kurt just gawked at the blonde's actions. After years of refusing to slushy anyone, Brittany goes and slushies two people at once; a hockey thug and a football player/fellow glee clubber.

As Brittany walked back to her locker, Korofsky grabbed her wrist, "What the hell, bitch?"

Before Santana could move to defend Brittany, the Dutch girl hauled off and punched him in the face.

"Oh my god," Kurt breathed, glancing at Santana, "She's turned into you."

Although Santana was immensely proud that Brittany defended herself with such valor, this wasn't Brittany. It couldn't be. Brittany was the nice, sweet one. She says 'excuse me' to dogs if she bumps into them. She helps anyone who needs it and smiles at the world. The Brittany that just slushied two people was a stranger.

After Brittany walked back to them, Korofsky went off in the direction of the athletic trainer's office and Mike sulked off to the locker room, throwing a confused glance at Brittany over his shoulder.

Puck walked up and looked at Santana, "I saw Korofsky holding a bloody nose. Did you finally knock the shit out of him?"

Santana shook her head and nervously eyed Brittany.

He raised an eyebrow, "Brittany? No way."

Brittany just let out an annoyed shrug.

"Awesome," Puck smirked.

Santana slipped her hand into Brittany's and pulled her into the bathroom. She positioned Brittany in front of the sinks and picked up a paper towel to get the residual back splash from the slushy she dumped on Mike. "What's going on B?"

Brittany was about to ask Santana what she was talking about, but realized Santana wasn't going to drop the subject until she got some answers. She sighed, "He's mean to everyone else. Why can't I be mean to him?"

Santana had to give her that, "But what about Mike?"

"He…" Brittany looked at the tile under their feet, "He's been flirting with you and he looks at you…like…like he wants you. I don't want him to have you…I just got mad." She let her head hang down, "I'm sorry."

Santana pulled Brittany to her, "He can't have me B." She felt Brittany deflate into her, "It's okay. It'll be okay. I promise."

It took a while, but Brittany calmed down and took a deep breath, "I need to go to class."

Santana took Brittany's hand and kissed her cheek. "You okay?"

Brittany flashed a brief smile, "Yeah." Then she turned and walked out of the door.

The head Cheerio looked herself in the mirror for a second before heaving the bathroom door open. As soon as she stepped into the hallway, she saw Puck push off of the lockers across the hall and walked to her.

"What do you want?" she sighed, "I'm really not in the mood." Puck took a few quick steps and cut Santana off so she crossed her arms, looking at him. "What?"

"I don't think you should be dating Brittany," he stated simply.

"What?" she looked at him incredulously, "It's none of your business. I'll date whoever the hell I want."

"Exactly," he put one hand on the lockers next to them and leaned on it.

She raised an eyebrow, "What does that mean?"

"It means that you can't stay with one person. Brittany needs someone who isn't going to run around on her," the sincerity in Puck's eyes was shocking to Santana. He seemed genuinely worried about the blonde. "She's in a rough place and you're a heartbreaker. You even have those little panties that say 'Heartbreaker' on the back."

She slugged him in the chest for bringing up her underwear in public.

He just shook his head, "I'm serious Santana. If you hurt her…do you know what would happen?"

"I would _never_ hurt her," Santana said with fire in her eyes.

"You don't know that."

"So what? Do you want to date her now?" Santana stared at him hard, daring him to say one wrong thing. Then bell rang as the hallway emptied and the first class of the day started.

He shook his head, "It's not like that. I'm just as bad as you. I was just talking to her last night and…"

"You talked to her last night?" Santana asked, remembering when Brittany left her on the front walkway last night.

"Yeah," Puck nodded and glanced at the empty hallways. "I met her at the park. She's scared you'll break up with her because her life sucks and she's a wreck." His eyes were set and he bend down to be eyelevel with Santana, "She cried San. She loves you and if you don't love her you need to find a way to let her down easy then stay out of her life."

"I do love her!" Santana let out in a furious stage whisper so no one else could hear, but she didn't know if she was furious with Puck for accusing her of something like that or if she was mad at herself for not seeing this pain in Brittany. "I will _never _hurt her and I do know I won't. Why are you being such an asshole?"

"I'm just trying to make sure she'll be okay," Puck stated, "She's like…my little sister now. I wanna make sure she's happy."

"I make her happy," the Cheerio got into Puck's face, "And the next time you stick your stupid mowhawked head into my business, I'll fuck you up." She didn't wait for him to answer before stalking off.

Puck just sighed and slammed his hand against the locker. He needed to get through Santana's thick, stubborn skull. However her wasn't great at coming up with plans. He was more of an action man. So he went to the most conniving person, besides Santana, he could think of.

When he finally got to class, he slid next to Quinn. "I need your help."

"The little cross means plus and the line mean minus," Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Not that. It's about Brittany," Puck whispered.

Quinn looked at him with a studious glare and narrowed her eyes, "Now is not the time to be hitting on her."

Puck sighed, "Dude, I'm not even thinking about that right now…well I am now, but only because you brought it up." He shook his head, "Anyway, Brittany called me last night and we talked at the park for a while. She's worried about Santana cheating on her because her life is a hot mess."

"Santana wouldn't…" Quinn shook her head, but given the Cheerio's track record it was hard to reassure him. "I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Brittany won't be," Puck pleaded his case to Quinn, "I need you to help me make Brittany know for sure. And that means making Santana know for sure."

"What do you want me to do?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know," Puck shrugged, "You're the planner. I'm the doer."

Quinn looked down at her bulging stomach, "That's for sure."

"Quinn," Puck ran a hand over his mowhawk. He was getting tired of these girls. They were such a pain in the ass. Except Brittany. The person who used to frustrate him and be the butt of his jokes was now one of his closest friends. The blonde made him feel comfortable. He even told her a few of his secrets because he was sure she wouldn't betray his trust. He wanted to repay her companionship by making sure she was happy and Quinn and Santana weren't making it easy.

He stood up, "You know what? Never mind. I'll figure out something on my own."

Quinn grabbed his hand and pulled him back down, "I wanna help. After glee, we can go to the library and work on it."


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Due to my insanely good mood (and two or three mojitos) I've decided to post again tonight. I think this story has about three more chapters in it and the first two are already written so when I think about it and have time I'll post them.

Hope everyone's day was awesome. Thanks for reading. Enjoy.

* * *

When Brittany got home she immediately got started on her chores. Rachel was opposed to giving Brittany chores at first but her dad explained to her that they were trying to give Brittany as much normalcy as possible. Because of the chores Brittany even started to get an allowance, which Rachel decided was a good thing because Brittany never asked for anything even if she needed it. This way they could help her out and she could have what she needed.

As Brittany wiped down the already immaculate counters in the Berry household and thinking about her dad's proposal, she heard the front door open. When she looked up, Santana was in the doorway with a content smile on her face. It made Brittany smile because Santana seldom smiled without Brittany smiling first these days.

"Hey," Santana pushed off of the doorframe and walked over to Brittany.

"Hi," the blonde suddenly got giddy with Santana's happy demeanor.

Santana grinned wider, "So I have a surprise for you."

"Really?" Brittany almost squealed.

The head Cheerio nodded. "C'mon."

"Wait," the smile dropped from Brittany's face, "I have to finish my chores."

Santana knew Brittany was really adamant about doing her chores and following the 'you can't go out until they're done' rule. She looked at her phone for the time and after some math she decided that if she helped Brittany they could get where they were going on time.

Brittany smiled when Santana walked to the pantry and got out the broom to help. They were done ten minutes later and Santana hurried Brittany out the door.

"Where are we going?" Brittany asked, looking out the window for any clue as to where they were going.

"It's a surprise B," Santana smirked and continued to drive, "You'll know when we get there."

Santana was right. The second they pulled into the parking lot of the soccer field, Brittany knew why they were there. Santana squeezed her car into a spot between two minivans. She hadn't even put the car in park when Brittany jumped out of the car.

Just as she got to the edge of the field she was greeted by a little girl with wavy blonde hair up in the ponytail and wearing a green soccer uniform. Santana watched the interaction with a smile before getting out of her car.

The little girl who Brittany referred to as her sister was really the daughter of the people she used to live next door to. She had always been like a big sister to the little girl and they loved each other like they were really family.

As Santana approached the two, who were chattering away, she saw the girl's mom walk over with a huge smile on her face. The woman had a kind smile and warm eyes. She was definitely the woman Santana talked to on the phone to arrange this.

"You must be Santana," she gave the head Cheerio a warm hug.

Santana stiffly accepted the hug. She wasn't good with physical contact unless it was her parents or Brittany. "Nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Cooper."

"Please call me Julie," the woman smiled at her and looked at Brittany and her daughter, "Thank you for telling me what happened. I had no idea. Sadie's been wondering what happened to Brittany."

Santana just nodded. She knew Brittany had been missing Sadie and was almost positive she missed Brittany as well.

"I can't imagine that happening to sweet little Brittany," Julie sighed. "I'm glad she has a friend like you. If you two need anything please let me know. Brittany's like part of the family."

Santana nodded again watching the little girl hug Brittany and then pulled her to the soccer field where similarly dressed children were warming up.

Julie and Santana followed them and sat in the bleachers next to the field. Santana was a little uncomfortable in the middle of so many people she didn't know so she pulled out her phone and went through her contacts looking for someone to text. Just as she was about to shoot a text to Rachel, asking if Brittany needed anything, a text appeared on her screen.

Santana's eyebrows furrowed and she read the message Puck sent. _Sorry for what happened today at school. I was out of line. Wanna come over later? I'm having a little party. _

The head Cheerio texted back _How little?_

The reply was almost immediate. _Just a couple of friends. _

_Glee friends or football friends?_

_What do you think?_

Santana sighed. She hoped it was just going to be a glee party that she could totally blow off, but of course Puck wanted to party with people who could party as his level so he was inviting the popular crowd. That meant that Santana had to at least make an appearance and she would have to bring Brittany too.

_Me and B will be there_

_Great. See you at 9._

Santana bit her lip. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to convince Brittany to go, but maybe drinking a little and dancing a little would help Brittany let loose a little. She looked to the field where the game started and realized that Brittany was sitting next to her.

Santana rested her head on Brittany's shoulder, "Party tonight."

"Okay," Brittany linked her pinkie with Santana's.

That was a lot less convincing than Santana thought there would be. "Really?"

The blonde nodded, "It'll be fun. Quinn already texted me about it."

"She's going to be there?" Santana picked her head up. Although, no longer pregnant, Quinn still wasn't back in the popular crowd and that was who Puck invited to his infamous parties.

Santana looked out at the little kids kick the ball around. Then she noticed a little boy on the sidelines staring at Brittany, "Is that your boyfriend?"

The blonde let out an infectious smile, "Yeah." She waved at him and he smiled and waved back. He was wearing glasses that seemed a little too big for his thin face and his uniform hung on a scrawny, probably uncoordinated body. He looked like that kind of person that grew up to be Jacob Ben Israel. It now made sense to Santana why Brittany would say she was dating him. Probably so the other kids wouldn't pick on him for not being good at sports. Santana smiled and looked at Brittany, the kindest person she'd ever known.

After the soccer game they went with Julie and Sadie to get ice cream before Julie asked Brittany to baby-sit Sadie the next weekend. The blonde happily agreed and she gave Sadie one last sisterly hug before she and Santana made their way back to the Berry household.

The second they stepped into the door, Rachel drug them both upstairs, "I need help. What do you wear to a party?"

"What party?" Santana asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Puck's party," Rachel stated like it was obvious. She walked over to the closet and started pulling things out.

Brittany stood up to help while Santana sat on the bed and wondered what universe she'd falling into that Puck would invite Rachel to a party. Unless it really was just the glee kids, which would be fine with her because she didn't feel like she needed to impress any of them.

"Who else is coming?" Santana laid back on Rachel's bed.

"No idea," Rachel shrugged stepping out of her closet, "I was just told to make sure that you two get there and to not wear knee high socks." She disappeared back into her closet leaving Santana alone again.

"San," Brittany called, "C'mere. We need your help."

Santana knew her presence in the closet was inevitable, so she heaved herself off of the bed and went to search for something in Rachel's closet that wouldn't embarrass the hell out of her. It turned out everything Rachel owned was from the grandma-toddler department of the store so they went to Brittany's room and all got dressed in something classically sexy before all going to the party together, promising Rachel's dads they'd be home by midnight.


	7. Chapter 7

When they got there, Santana strutted in like it was her party because well, she ran the school so all the parties were hers. Puck's living room was filled with the upper echelon of the socially gifted. The hot, the beautiful, the funny, and the athletically gifted were all in attendance. This was what Brittany and Santana dealt with daily, but Rachel was immediately uncomfortable.

They were all swarmed the second they walked in by guys falling all over themselves. The way Rachel was dressed threw the not so perceptive football players off and most of them thought she was a new student.

"Santana!" Puck called from the kitchen door when he saw her. He smiled, a slightly tipsy smile and held out his arms.

Santana rolled her eyes and walked over to him, "It's not even ten o'clock, lightweight."

"I'm fine babe," he took her into his arms and gave her a squeeze.

A little thrown off by the sudden affection, Santana didn't see Brittany and Rachel walked past them into the kitchen to get something to drink.

"So," Rachel looked over the wide assortment of alcohol, "What do you usually drink?"

Brittany bit her lip and looked at the people behind Rachel. She pulled the diva to her and whispered in her head, "I don't drink. I just get like cranberry juice or something so no one knows. Santana said everyone drinks at the party and it's weird not to."

Rachel nodded. She didn't really feel like drinking in a house full of strangers. "Good idea." They both looked over the drinks again and giggled as they poured themselves some soda and pretended to pour some liquor into it.

Santana got away from Puck long enough to get a drink. She made it strong because that's what she did when she wasn't in the party mood because maybe it would put her in the party mood. However she knew the alcohol never really put her in the party mood. It put her in the Brittany mood and she couldn't find the blonde, so she settled on the couch and chugged her drink until she was lightheaded. She looked around and watched people get wasted and make out with anyone who was willing.

A few minutes later she was bored so she heaved herself off of the couch and made her way to get another drink. When she was making her way to the kitchen, Santana saw Brittany and Puck talking in the doorway that led to the backyard. Brittany had her back against one side of the doorframe laughing at something Puck said. Puck smiled down at her with one of his forearms resting on the frame above Brittany's head. They were really close, even for the great friends Puck claimed they were.

The empty cup in Santana's hand was crushed when she clenched her fists at the interaction. He knew that look Puck was giving Brittany. He was using all the trick in his arsenal to get into her pants.

Santana looked away briefly when she felt cold droplets of liquid spray her legs. She looked down to see Quinn picking up the now empty cup and try to mop up the mess with a paper towel and an apologetic smile.

When she looked back to her best friend and her ex-boyfriend, she saw Puck move in for the kill. Her had his lips on Brittany's. Her hands went to his chest, fingers splayed out to their extent. Santana couldn't tell if Brittany was pushing him away or if she was just feeling the results of the various sports Puck played. It didn't matter to Santana. She rushed over to them she shoved Puck out of the kiss and into the backyard.

"What the hell?" Santana growled, "What the fuck happened to just being BFFs?" She shoved Puck again for good measure.

Puck shook his head, annoyed, "Stop being crazy. I was like caught up in the moment and shit. It's not like you care."

That enraged Santana. "Of course I care. I fucking care more than anyone else at this fucking school."

"Then why haven't you been trying to convince her to stay?" Puck asked. Quinn's plan was working, maybe a little too well because he might feel a fist connect with his face soon. He had deviated from the script Quinn gave him and was now asking questions he wanted the answers to.

Santana forced the tears back behind her eyes and glared at them. No one noticed the mastermind of the plan watching from Puck's bedroom window upstairs. "Because I don't want her to feel guilty and stay if she doesn't want to."

Brittany had moved to the kitchen window, so she could watch the confrontation without either combatant knowing. She also felt bad for letting Puck kiss her. She knew it was coming and didn't stop him. Part of her just wanted to see what the big deal was. She didn't see it. Sure Puck was a good kisser for a guy, but Santana blew him out of the water.

Puck's voice lowered and he took a careful step to Santana, "Do you want her to stay?"

"Of course I do!" Santana yelled through the tears that have overcome her willpower and were streaming down her face, "I'm in love with her!" Puck took another step to Santana and wrapped his arms around her. Santana sobbed quietly adding, "I need her."

Puck closed his eyes and held his ex-girlfriend to his chest and looked up at his window. Quinn donned a smug smile, knowing that she had thought up the plan that got Santana to finally let out her anxiety over the possibility of Brittany leaving.

Puck felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and turned his head to see Brittany with concerned eyes, glance at Santana then back at him. He nodded and pulled away from Santana, letting Brittany take his place. Then with a reassuring hand on Brittany's back, he walked back inside and closed the door behind him, standing guard at the door so that no one could get out there.

Santana felt Brittany's magical touch on her back and she looked up at the blue eyes she loved so much. "I'm so sorry."

Brittany just smiled sweetly and pulled away from Santana, taking her hand. She led them to the shallow end of the pool, where the grass started at the end of the concrete and sat down. Santana sat next to her and allowed Brittany to hold her.

"I'm sorry," Brittany cooed in Santana's ear, "I shouldn't have let him kiss me."

Santana sighed, part of her hoped that Brittany had heard what was going on so she wouldn't have to stay it again because she wasn't sure if she could say it again. Santana shook her head, "It's okay B. I know how he is."

The blonde reached down and gently wiped a few tears from Santana's cheek, "Why are you crying?"

Santana snuggled into Brittany and closed her eyes, "It's nothing. Can we just go home?"

Brittany nodded and stood up, pulling Santana up with her. Santana found Rachel in the crowd talking to Quinn and a couple other football players.

"We're leaving," Santana stated, hoping that her eyes weren't red from crying.

Rachel smiled at Quinn, "I guess I'm going too."

The ex-Cheerio scrunched up her nose and then suggested, "I'll take you home later if you want to stay."

Rachel quickly agreed and looked at Brittany who was standing quietly behind Santana, "Tell daddy I'll be home later."

The blonde nodded and followed Santana out the front door.

When they got back to the Berry household, Brittany told Rachel's dads that she'd be home later with Quinn. Then she and Santana went upstairs to her bedroom.

Santana sat on the bed while Brittany was washing her face in the bathroom. She didn't blame her best friend. The party grime was not a pleasant feeling. She walked over to the dresser to get something out to change into, but when she opened the top drawer what she saw made her forget her search.

She reached into the drawer with a shaky hand and pulled out the long rectangular piece of paper. She felt a fresh wave of tears wash over her. Brittany's name was printed on the top of the airline ticket to Holland.

When Brittany stepped out of the bathroom, Santana looked up with glossy eyes, "So you're leaving?"

Brittany looked guiltily at the ticket, but couldn't get an answer out before Santana added, "You're leaving in two days. Were you just not going to tell me?" Santana tossed the ticket on the bed, "Was it like 'Surprise Santana, I'm leaving today. Have a nice life?'" The head Cheerio shook her head at Brittany who was about to open her mouth to speak. Then she turned on her heel and ran out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Santana started driving and found herself in front of Puck's house again. The party was still raging so she had to wade through the crowd to get to the kitchen for what she really came back for.

"Hey," Puck smiled at her, "What are you doing here? Where's your girlfriend?"

Santana ignored him and grabbed a bottle of vodka before shoving her way into the backyard. Puck frowned and followed her, "Santana, what's wrong?"

Santana plopped down onto the grass in the backyard and took a long drink straight from the bottle, "She's leaving. In two fucking days. Did you know that?"

Puck's mouth dropped open, "No way."

"She didn't even tell me," Santana shook her head and looked at the sky.

The football player sat next to Santana and took the bottle from her hand, taking a large swig before handing it back and laying in the grass. "I'm sorry."

After the first few calls from Brittany, Santana turned off her phone. In her drunken state, she didn't feel like there was much left to say. She just laid on the grass next to Puck and drank until she passed out.

Puck made sure that no one messed with Santana until everyone was gone and then he laid on the grass next to her. He stared at the stars wondered why Brittany was leaving. After a few minutes of staring at the sky he fell asleep next to Santana.

When she woke up, the light was pounding through her eyelids and her head felt ready to implode. "Fuck," she mumbled as she sat up. Puck was gone as were all signs of life.

She slowly made her way inside and stopped in the kitchen for a glass of water then went to find her car. Her parents were going to be so pissed.

On the drive home, Santana stewed and had to stop herself from going over to Rachel's house to beg Brittany to stay. However Santana Lopez did not beg. Anyway, it seemed like Brittany already made up her mind.

When she walked into her house, she did her best not to look hung over, by changing into come clothes she kept in her backseat for emergencies, spraying herself with perfume, and putting her hair up. Unfortunately her parents were both sitting in the kitchen, which was visible from the front door.

Before either one could say anything, Santana stated, "I'm sorry I didn't call last night. My battery died."

Her mother smiled at her, "It's okay. Quinn called for you. But next time, I'd rather you stay with Brittany and Rachel. Quinn's mother is…"

"Creepy," Santana stated, cringing at the sound of Brittany's name. Then she walked to her room and shut the door, falling back into her bed, not wanting to think about that fact that Brittany was leaving tomorrow.

Santana stayed in bed for the remainder of the weekend and stared at her phone for three hours before and after Brittany's flight was supposed to leave, but nothing happened. Tears constantly streamed down her face until she finally decided that Brittany didn't care anymore. When that happened, the tiny icy part of her heart grew to the parts that Brittany used to keep warm. She became a little harder and a lot meaner.

Brittany forced a smile at the airport. Rachel and Quinn stood with her handing over the blonde's luggage. Once she had it all Brittany added, "Thanks for the ride."

Rachel hugged the Cheerio, "Anytime." Quinn just smiled quietly.

"Um," Brittany opened the front pocket of one of her suitcase. She extracted a yellow envelope. "Can you make sure Santana gets this?"

"Of course," Quinn nodded accepting the envelope. She pulled Brittany to her, "Call me when you get there okay?"

"Okay," Brittany squeezed her eyes shut, imagining that Santana would run through the doors of the airport any second to stop her. However, when Santana didn't, Brittany sighed and let go of Quinn.

"Be careful okay?" Quinn told Brittany with a hopeful smile, "We love you."

Brittany let a genuine smile slip onto her lips, "I love you guys too."

With that she picked up her bags and made her way to her plane.

* * *

I'm trying really hard to get all of this out before I go on vacation because I will be doing absolutely nothing productive then. I just don't want to sacrifice the quality of my writing to get it up fast.

Anyway thanks for reading.


	9. Chapter 9

At school Monday, a little part of her hoped that Brittany would be there, but the larger part of her knew Brittany was out of the country. When she looked at Brittany's empty desks and chairs, her frown grew a little deeper.

"Santana," Puck tried to catch up with her after her last class, but Santana was practically running out the door. He knew that she wouldn't stop and he wouldn't see her in glee so he did one thing he knew would piss her off enough to come back to try to fight him. "I'm glad she's gone! Brittany was a stupid slut!"

Puck cringed when Santana froze and slowly turned around. He may have gone a little far with the slut part. Every cell in his body was yelling at him to run with the people in the hallway parted for Santana and gawked at Puck for saying something to dangerous.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Santana didn't even finish her question before socking Puck in the gut. He doubled over and grabbed the spot where she just punched.

"I didn't…" he took a second to catch the wind Santana knocked out of him, "I didn't mean it. You know that."

"Then why would you say something so stupid?" Santana demanded, ready to rip that stupid mowhawk right out of his stupid head.

Puck dropped the backpack off of his shoulders and unzipped the front pocket. He pulled out a long yellow envelope and handed it to Santana, "Since you wouldn't talk to her all weekend she wanted Rachel to give it to you, but she was too scared." He lifted up his shirt and saw a large bruise already beginning to form on his abdomen, "Now I know why."

Santana didn't bother to apologize. She carefully took the envelope in her hand and looked it over. The only thing that told her it was really from Brittany was her name scrawled over the front in Brittany's bubbly handwriting.

Puck put his hand on Santana's shoulder and guided the stunned girl out to the bleachers by the football field. She slowly sat down and ripped open the envelope. A letter and a picture fell out into her lap. She picked up the letter and read it. Then she read it again. Then again just to make sure she read it correctly.

"I fucked up so bad," she breathed after folding the letter up again.

Puck was analyzing the picture, "Can I keep this?"

She looked over at the picture that was of Brittany and Santana kissing, taken by Brittany after they first got together. The blonde was absolutely giddy over the recent step in their relationship and firmly stated that they needed more pictures of them together. Santana didn't want to do a kiss picture because it was so cliché, but when Brittany kissed her, she forgot that it was stupid to have a picture like that taken.

"No," Santana snatched it out of his hand, "The last thing I want if you jerking off to me and my girlfriend."

"So the letter was good?" Puck asked, a little too enthusiastically that he meant to.

The head Cheerio nodded, "It just says hasn't decided yet. Her dad wanted her to visit to see if she likes it there and she wants to know if I'll pick her up from the airport on Wednesday."

"Awesome," Puck grinned, "Can I come?"

"So you can watch us kiss?" Santana raised an eyebrow.

He rolled his eyes, "No, plus after the shit you pulled this weekend, I don't think you'll be getting any anytime soon."

This brought a frown to Santana's face again. Puck was right. She did fuck up royally and she needed someway to fix it. "I really messed up." After another second of thinking, Santana stood up and grabbed Puck's hand, dragging him down the bleachers, "C'mon we have some shopping to do."

"We?" he asked, "I'm not the one that overacted and yelled at my girlfriend."

"But you let me do it," Santana stated and pulled him faster toward her car.

"I wasn't there," Puck raised an eyebrow when they stopped in the parking lot.

Santana huffed, "I need your help. I need her to love it here so much she never wants to leave. You can keep the picture if you come with me."

A wicked grin formed on Puck's face, "Done."

"What are the fun things to do in Lima?" Santana asked as they walked through the store, getting all the things they needed to make Wednesday the best day of Brittany's life.

Puck looked around and thought for a minute, "Party."

"Besides that," Santana rubbed her eyes, "We have to make Lima fucking Ohio look more fun than the coolest damn city I've ever seen."

"You've been there?" Puck asked.

Santana shook her head, "But Brittany has a million pictures of it all over her room. It's so pretty and there's so much stuff to do." She let out a long sigh, "Why the hell would anyone stay here? I don't even want to stay here."

"She'll want to stay," the football player assured her, "Because her friends are here. And you're here."

"I don't know," Santana continued walked, "She loves her dad."

"She loves you," Puck added, putting his hands in his pockets.

"But he's her dad," the Cheerio kept talking, "And I'm just an insane bitch who is completely in love with her."

Puck chucked, "Okay no argument on the last part, but who has been there for her, I mean really there for her since eighth grade?"

Santana was about to answer when she saw two familiar people in the party island stocking their basket with anything essential for a high school party.

"Throwing a party?" Santana asked as she and Puck strolled up to them.

Rachel smiled brightly while Quinn suspiciously eyes Puck and Santana. "Why yes we are," Rachel answered, "I actually wanted to talk to you. I suppose you got the letter?"

Santana nodded.

"Well Quinn and I were trying to think of ways to get Brittany to stay in Lima," Rachel explained, "And since Lima is lacking in many ways, we decided to throw her a party and invite all of her friends Wednesday night."

"Perfect," Santana added, "That way I can take her out during the day and then surprise her with the party."

"Great," Rachel grinned, "I just need a list of all of Brittany's friends and a list of her favorite things."

"This is going to be hard," Quinn interjected, "We talked to her yesterday and told us all the cool things there is to do and all about her new friends there."

"You talked to her?" Santana asked a little dejected and disappointed. Also the mention of friends Brittany had in at her father's house didn't help her mood. If she had friends there _and_ it was a much cooler city, why would she stay?"

Puck seemed to know what Santana was thinking and put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about it. Once we have the party and she sees how much we all love her, she won't have a second thought about staying."

"You love her?" Quinn grinned wickedly, "You don't love anyone…but your biceps."

Puck rolled his eyes, "She like my best friend okay?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow and glanced at Rachel who had the same looked on her face, "Best friend?"

"Whatever," Puck shook his head, "Let's just get this party planned. We don't have a long before she gets back."

"Right," Santana nodded and looked at the other two girls, "Her favorite color is pink." She glanced in the basket and saw the pink plates and cup, "Which I see you already knew. Um, invite all the glee kids and," she paused to look at Quinn, "The nice Cheerios, like Katie and Tracy and…that's all of the nice ones. Then anyone you can think of I guess. Um, Puck and I are going to go plan everything before the party."

Rachel nodded, "My dads said they'll help decorate and everything. They don't really want her to leave either."

"Alright," Santana looked at everyone in the group before her eyes stopped on Puck, "Let's go."

Puck waved to the other girls and followed Santana who was already marching off. She was a girl on a mission. She felt like she was going to have to fight the whole world to keep Brittany and she was going to give it her best shot.


	10. Chapter 10

Planning for Brittany's return took over Santana's life. Everything had to be absolutely perfect. She had a hard time paying attention in class. Most of the time she'd stare at Brittany's empty seat and then in glee she just sort of mumbled the words and shuffled around the choreography.

Mr. Schue finally decided to confront Santana on her absentness on Tuesday at the end of glee. "Santana, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Santana sighed and walked over to Mr. Schue.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "You've been really…out of it lately."

"Sorry," Santana replied, hurriedly. She had places to be and standing right here was counterproductive. "It won't happen again." She started to walk away.

"Are you sure?" He asked, "Does this have anything to do with Brittany's absence?"

Santana froze and slowly turned back around, "Yeah, but I don't wanna talk about it." With that, she walked out of the choir room.

Rachel walked into her room and looked at Quinn, "Uh can I talk to you for a minute?"

The blonde nodded and allowed Rachel to pull her out of the room and down the stairs. "Rachel what's going on?"

Rachel turned around on the heel and whispered, "Brittany's not coming back alone."

"What?" Quinn asked, "Is her dad coming or something?"

"She's bringing a friend," the diva stated, "She's going to look at colleges while she's here with Brittany, but I think it kinda derails Santana's plan of a perfect day alone with her. Brittany said that when she gets back she's taking her friend to Ohio State and then her friend is going to go to be in and out of Lima for two weeks."

"Santana's going to kill her," Quinn glanced up the stairs to see if the Cheerio in question was listening in. When she confirmed that Santana wasn't eavesdropping, Quinn took a deep breath, "Well, I guess we have to tell her."

They both slowly walked up the stairs, not wanting to have to tell Santana the news. When they got back to Rachel's room, Santana studied to two girls that were nervously looking at her. After a beat, Santana asked, "What's going on?"

Quinn elbowed Rachel who frown and elbowed her back. Quinn took a step back and behind Rachel before saying, "Brittany is bringing a friend back from her the Netherlands and Brittany is taking her to Ohio State from the airport."

Santana's face fell, and less visibly, her heart fell. She fell back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "How long does it take to get to Ohio State?"

Puck shrugged, "Hour and a half."

"Shit," Santana hissed. Then after some more unsettling silence Santana sat up, "It looks like I'm driving to Ohio State." Then she looked at Puck, "And you're going with me."

"Why?" Puck asked, although he didn't object. He hadn't skipped school in almost a month and was starting to feel like a nerd. Plus, he would love to spend a couple hours with Brittany and even Santana.

"Because I need you to distract that girl that's coming home with B," Santana stated, standing from the bed. She started pacing the room while Quinn and Rachel sat down.

Puck let out his smuggest smirk, "I can definitely do that."

The silence fell over them again. Santana was so deep in her own head she probably didn't notice. However Puck leaned off of the bed and turned the radio in Rachel's room on. "It's too damn quiet in here."

"Why don't you sing her a song? "Rachel suggested, "At the party? I mean if someone confessed their feelings to me through song in the room full of people, I'd melt."

"Cause you're a chick," Puck rolled his eyes.

"So is Brittany," She quipped back.

The only male in the room shook his head, "Well it's stupid. One song shouldn't make you want to put out for every guy in homeroom."

"One song doesn't do that!" Rachel's voice raised an octave, "And I have _never_ put out."

He smirked, "So you didn't really lose it to St. Jerk."

Rachel huffed, "Of course not. It wasn't right. I couldn't feel the spark."

"Babe I always feel the spark," Puck grinned and laid down on the bed with his hands behind his head, "And girls always feel the spark with me."

"Please," Santana rolled her eyes, "I was imagining Brittany every time we were having sex. Anyway, this is a stupid conversation. What's this _friend's_ name anyway?"

Rachel looked over at Quinn, "I don't remember."

"Schuyler," Quinn replied immediately.

Puck looked at Quinn, "Did you imagine anyone else while we were doing it?"

The ex-Cheerio look appalled at the question and didn't dignify the question with an answer. Instead she looked at Santana, "So are you going to do the song?"

The Cheerio nodded immediately, "I have to do everything I can."

"Alright," Rachel stood up, "I'd say music is my forte so unless you know the perfect song, I'd say we have to look for the perfect song."

"Whatever it takes," Santana sunk down onto the bed.

That night, after sitting with the three most supportive friends she'd ever had besides Brittany, Santana called her mom to tell her she was staying at Rachel's because they were going to study late.

After Quinn and Puck left, Rachel gave a reassuring smile to Santana as they walked up the stairs, "It'll all work out. The party's ready. Quinn and I will take care of anything else that needs to be done. All you have to do is be yourself and be civil to Brittany's friend until you drop her off in Columbus. And you have that song down."

"Thanks," Santana nodded, but she really wasn't assured by a recap of her time that was spent that afternoon. "I'm gonna head to bed. I have a big day tomorrow."

Rachel nodded understandingly, "See you tomorrow."

Santana slipped into Brittany's room and closed the door, the only light coming from the street lamp on the street below. She silently stripped out of her clothes and padded to the bed. For a brief second after she slid under the covers, Santana could feel Brittany all around her. It didn't help that the whole bed smelled like her best friend. It also didn't help that she'd spent many a night in this bed cuddled up with the blonde. It took a while, but eventually she was able to slip into a shallow sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

On the way to the airport, Puck was half asleep in the passenger's sleep. Santana felt like she was about to throw up and her hands were shaking. It's not like she'd never picked Brittany up from the airport. She had a handful of times when Brittany would come back from visiting some relatives. Santana even talked her mom into taking her to pick her best friend a couple times before she got a car.

When she pulled into the small parking garage and found a spot, she shut the car off and laid her head on the steering wheel.

Puck picked up his head and rubbed his eyes. "You okay?"

Santana steeled herself and nodded. She was always okay, even when she wasn't. "Let's go."

They slowly walked inside and looked at the small lit board the told them when Brittany and her friend would arrive. Santana saw the time and looked at her phone for the time. "We have like ten minutes."

"Sweet," he put his hands in his pockets, "I'm gonna go get something to drink. Do you want something?"

Santana shook her head, "I'm just going to sit here and…explode."

Puck offered an amused smirk before walking off in search of some vending machines. As he returned with a soda in his hand, a woman over the loudspeaker announced Brittany's plane arrival.

Santana shot out of her seat and stared at the gate that her best friend was supposed to come out of. She felt Puck next to her and watched as people started coming out of the gate.

"Oh my god," Santana breathed. She felt Puck put his hand on her shoulder and gently squeeze.

But before he could add any words of comfort, Brittany stepped into the oversized hallway with one of her arms linked with a tall, girl with long, light brown hair and soft model-esque facial features. They were both laughing and chattering away in Brittany's father's native tongue.

Schuyler was the first to spot Santana and Puck. She seemed to recognize them and pointed. Brittany looked up and grinned then turned back to her friend, adding something in Dutch. Schuyler laughed and walked with Brittany up to her friends.

"Hey," Puck smiled, stepping up and pulled the blonde into the hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed.

Santana kicked at the carpet as she waited for them to finish. She was glad Puck went first because Santana's nerves were shot all to hell and she needed time to regroup.

"You must be Santana," Schuyler said with a faint accent and unexpectedly hugged Santana, "It's so nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too?" It came out as more of a question than anything. Santana had already decided not to like this girl so hugging her was not on the agenda.

When Schuyler let go, Brittany was standing next to Santana with a shy smile.

"Um, hi," Santana managed to get out.

The blonde bit her lip and tentatively let her hand reach out to Santana's. Santana met her halfway and their fingers easily intertwined. Both of their smiles got larger, but they didn't touch more than that, each one too scared to do something wrong.

Puck carried the girls' luggage to Santana's car, mostly to show off for Schuyler who he suddenly didn't seem to mind distracting for Santana. Santana reluctantly disengaged her fingers from Brittany's to open the door for her. Brittany kissed Santana's cheek before sitting down in the passenger's seat.

Santana let out a huge smile and closed the door. She saw Puck looking at her from across the car. He waggled his eyebrows and she laughed. So far so good.

The first few minutes of the drive to Columbus were quiet. No one really knew what to say. Brittany kept looking at Santana and Santana kept glancing over, but they never looked at each other at the same time.

Puck was trying to think of something to say to the new Dutch girl. He'd never really tried to impress anyone outside of Lima.

"So you're graduating?" he finally asked Schuyler.

She smiled and nodded, "I want to go to a university in the states. Brittany talks about it here so much, I wanted to see for myself."

"That's cool," Puck nodded with his signature smirk, "What do you want to study?"

They continued talking with silence still washed over the front seat. Santana was a little weirded out by the fact that Brittany hadn't moved much since they got in. Before she was always digging through the CDs or fixing her make-up in the mirror or changing clothes. She was always moving and now she was just sitting there.

Santana was about to bang her head on the steering wheel from all the quiet so she hit the power button on the stereo. That seemed to set Brittany in motion. The blonde reached under her seat and pulled out all the CDs Santana kept in her car.

After a few seconds of scanning, Brittany pulled out a CD and slid it into the player. Usually the playing of Madonna so early in the car ride would have at least elicited a groan, usually a string of profanities, from the head Cheerio, but Santana didn't say anything. She kept her eyes on the road and her mouth shut.

Brittany sighed. She wanted everything to be just like it was before she left. She still felt bad for not telling Santana she was leaving, but she never found the right time and now things were different than before. She wanted the adorable banter with her best friend. She wanted to have to pout a little so Santana would melt and she could get her way. She wanted to have to promise extra kisses so they could listen to Cher later.

The blonde looked out the window and watched the empty fields go by.

"I have to pee," Puck announced.

"Fantastic," Santana rolled her eyes. She wasn't that pissed he wanted to stop. Her car seemed to be really crowded at the moment with all of the not talking that was happening. She just wanted to get something to drink.

In the next small town they drove through Santana pulled into a gas station. Puck got out. Santana glanced at Brittany. "Do you want anything?"

Brittany smiled, at the first normal thing that had happened to them since she got back. She let out a nod.

Santana smiled back, "The usual?"

"Yeah," Brittany nodded.

Santana left her car on so Brittany would be comfortable before going inside. She completely ignored the girl in the back because well she didn't want the girl there and because she vaguely remembered Puck asking her is she wanted something.

Santana was watching Brittany and Schuyler from the soda coolers in the store. The blonde had gotten out of the car. Schuyler had gotten out as well and was watching Brittany do some dance moves. Then Schuyler tried them. Schuyler was definitely not a dancer, but it made Brittany laugh.

Santana smiled and ducked her head before picking up a bottle of water. Then she went to get Brittany a slushy.

"So what do you think of her friend?" Puck asked, getting a cup to get a slushy next to her.

Santana shook her head, "She's not a dancer."

"No I mean with me," he corrected her, "Do you think she'll go for the Puckasaurus?"

The brunette picked up her water and Brittany's slushy. "You're never going to get laid again if you keep calling yourself the Puckasaurus. You can figure it out when she comes back to Lima in a week. I will give you twenty bucks if you keep her away from me and B as long as possible." As she stepped up to the cashier, she saw Brittany trying to show Schuyler how to do the little dance she just made up while people in the parking lot looked at them like they were crazy. Santana smiled. The blonde never cared what other people thought. She just did what felt right or felt good. She said what she was thinking and she loved the world. Santana always wished she could be more like Brittany.

"If you have any more hot girls that you need me to keep away let me know," Puck smirked, "This is like getting paid to breathe."

He slid his and Schuyler's drink next to the two Santana had as the cashier rang it up. Somehow Santana knew it was going to happen so she just let it. After she paid they went outside and Santana grinned wickedly. She knew a way to show Schuyler who was top dog in these parts.

She set the drinks on the hood as Brittany started the song over. Santana started doing the dance that Brittany was doing earlier. She knew it wasn't as good as Brittany, but it was way better than Schuyler. When Brittany saw, she jumped up and easily stepped into the dance with Santana.

Puck just shook his head knowing what Santana was doing. He got into the car and leaned over Santana's seat to turn off the music, "Let's go so we can get back home on time."

Santana stopped her dance and picked up Brittany's drink handing the blonde her drink. She took it with a sweet smile and then sank into her seat.

The head Cheerio was downright giddy at the smile she just got. She trotted to the drivers seat, determined to get what's-her-name in the backseat dropped off and get Brittany back to Lima in time for her party.


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry it took so long to update. I've been in Sin City celebrating my birthday. Yes I did drink entirely way too much. No I didn't win any money. I have a new respect for table dancers and a new fear of old ladies.

Hope you enjoy. I also have another story in the works that I thought up on the plane ride home. So look for "Turn Around Bright Eyes" to be posted soon.

* * *

When they finally pulled up to the home of the Buckeyes, Santana was about to strangle the girl who was telling Puck all about how awesome the Netherlands is while Brittany nodded her head and occasionally adding her own opinion.

Brittany hugged Schuyler goodbye before they took off in the opposite direction. While they were outside the car saying their goodbyes, Puck leaned forward, "I just got a text from Quinn. The party is all set up. Everyone is going to be there after glee practice."

"Good," Santana kept her eyes trained on Brittany. "With that fun little conversation you started, even I want to move to the Netherlands."

"Sorry," Puck replied, a little less that apologetically, "I was trying to make conversation."

After a few more minutes of goodbyes, Brittany climbed back into the car and leaned back into the seat. She smiled lazily over at Santana, "Thanks for bringing her all the way here. You didn't have to."

Santana just shrugged, "No problem."

Puck watched the two girls just look at each other chanting _kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss_ in his head. However Brittany glanced back and smirked at Puck before looking back at Santana who was looking in the rearview mirror as she backed up.

"So um, how's your dad?" Santana asked.

Brittany smiled sadly, "He's okay." Then she added more softly, "He really wants me to decide where to live."

Santana stomach dropped. Truth be told she wanted Brittany to decide already. The suspense and uncertainty was killing her. She just nodded quietly. She didn't know what to say. She had been trying really hard not to state her opinion because well, she was Santana Lopez, stating her opinion was one of the top ten things she did on a daily basis. She just didn't want Brittany to stay because of her and be miserable without any kind of parental figure.

"Who's that hot guy in the backyard?" one of the two Cheerios Quinn invited asked her.

Quinn looked out the window and smirked, "That's Rachel's dad."

The Cheerio grinned, "Is he married?"

"Uh, he got married in Vermont, but I don't think it's valid here," Quinn watched the Cheerio's face light up.

"Awesome," she smiled and continued to stare out the window.

Quinn spotted Rachel walking by and grabbed her arm. She smiled and linked her arm with Rachel's as they walked to the kitchen, "Katie is totally checking out your dad."

"No way," Rachel hissed with a small grin, "Did you tell her about my other dad?"

"No," Quinn smirked, "I'm going to have some fun for a little bit."

Rachel laughed, "Just don't let her traumatize my dad. There aren't enough Julie Andrews films in the whole world for him to get over being fondled on by a high school cheerleader."

Quinn disengaged their arms with a chuckle, "Noted. Have you talked to Santana or Puck?"

Rachel shook her head, "They should be back any minute since last time you texted Puck they were half an hour away."

Quinn nodded, "I'll go text him again."

Rachel watched Quinn walked away with a small smile on her face. A year ago Quinn Fabray would have never talked to her. Now they were gossiping together and were practically best friends. Then she looked at the living room where people were assembled in her living room. She didn't talk to this many people last year, let alone have them all over for a party. Albeit it was Brittany's party, but she was still hosting a party for a Cheerio and that was helping her to begin to climb out of the social sinkhole she was in.

As she walked around, Rachel caught sight of Santana's car through the sheer curtains hanging over the entryway windows. She turned around and called "She's here!"

The music immediately shut off. Everyone ducked behind something and Quinn and Rachel went to the front door, waiting for Brittany to walk in.

"I'm so tired," Brittany yawned and started to get her luggage out of the trunk. Puck walked over and helped her.

Santana hoped Brittany wasn't too tired for a party because that was what she was about to get. She shot a glance at Puck who looked just as worried.

They all slowly made their way to the door and Brittany took her keys out of her bag. She unlocked the door and opened the door to find Rachel and Quinn standing there.

Rachel smiled and pulled the blonde dancer into a hug, "Hey Brittany. How was your flight?"

"Okay," Brittany shrugged and then hugged Quinn.

"Um, B?" Santana asked quietly, closing the door behind her and caught the blonde's eyes, "We have a surprise for you."

The blonde's face lit up and she looked around, "What is it?"

Quinn subtly knocked twice on the wood frame of the entry door signaling the group. Before Brittany knew what was happening, all of her friends from school jumped up and yelled, "Surprise!"

After a beat, Brittany's face lit up. She immediately turned to Santana and threw her arms around the girl. Santana was so stunned, she didn't realize what was happening until Brittany let go and walked into the crowd to say hi to everyone.

Santana let out a relieved sigh and took off her jacket. She tossed it onto the couch and started to mingle like she the head Cheerio she was.

As the sun went down, the number of people grew. Rachel's dads left because they had tickets to a show and trusted that the girls could keep the party under control. So when they left, the music got louder, someone broke out some liquor, and a Cheerio's heart broke upon seeing the two men leave hand in hand. At some point, Kurt had put a Lady Gaga CD into circulation and it had made it's way to the deck.

"I love this song," Brittany called out. Santana turned around to find her best friend standing on the coffee table, blue plastic cup in hand, dancing with one of the Cheerios to the song. Santana smirked. She walked over and stepped up on the table behind Brittany.

_I love that lavender blonde_  
_The way she moves_  
_The way she walks_

The second the blonde felt the hand on her waist, she knew who was there. She turned around with a seductive smirk to Santana. She swallowed the remaining contents of her glass and tossed it onto a nearby end table. She lazily brought her hands up and caressed Santana's neck before sliding them back so they were resting on the back of her neck.

_Just give in_  
_Don't give up baby_  
_Open up your heart and your mind to me_

_Just know when_  
_That glass is empty_  
_That the world is gonna bend_

Santana could see that Brittany was pretty near drunk. Her eyes were glossy and her smile was sloppy, but she was still Brittany. She was still adorable, sweet, lovable Brittany and nothing in Santana's mind could change that.

_Happy in the club with a bottle of red wine_  
_Stars in our eyes 'cuz we're having a good time_

_Eh-eh_  
_Eh-eh_  
_So happy I could die_  
_Be your best friend_  
_Yeah I'll love you forever_  
_Up in the clouds_  
_We'll be higher than ever_

At that moment with Brittany, Santana forgot all the people around her. She forgot about her social status and the constant battle she was having trying to keep from begging Brittany to stay. She put her other hands on the blonde's hips as they swayed with the beat.

Brittany stepped forward so that their bodies were flush together. Santana could feel Brittany guiding her with her body. The kind of command Brittany took made Santana want to drag the blonde upstairs and ravage her, but the alcohol in Brittany's blood was stopping Santana. Sure they'd had sex when they were both drunk, but unless it was both of them, Santana nixed the idea. She never wanted Brittany to feel taken advantage of in anyway.

_So happy I could die_  
_Be your best friend_  
_Yeah I'll love you forever_  
_Up in the clouds_  
_We'll be higher than ever_

So when they song was over, Santana stepped off the table and helped Brittany down before slipping out the backdoor to sit next to the hot tub. She let out a long sigh, placing her head in her hands. Everything about Brittany was intoxicating to her. Absolutely everything. If Brittany decided to move to the Hague…Santana didn't know what she would do. She finally decided that she needed to say something. She needed to tell Brittany that she needed her.


	13. Chapter 13

Quinn walked into the backyard to find Santana sitting by the hot tub. She saw the Cheerio come out there earlier so she brought an extra drink. She silently walked over and offered it to Santana. With a cautious gaze, Santana took the drink, subtly looking at it and sniffing it before taking a drink.

"It's just beer," Quinn sat in the grass next to her, "Puck called a few people and now there's a keg in the downstairs bathroom bathtub."

"Wow," Santana took a long sip, "Rachel's dads are never going to want us over here again."

"I know," Quinn smirked, "We've desecrated their Breakfast at Tiffany's replica bathroom."

Santana glanced over at Quinn before looking to the most perfect lawn in Lima. She swears up and down that one time she saw Rachel's daddy with a ruler and a pair of scissors on his hands and knees in the lawn one day. "Thanks for helping with this party for Brittany. You and Rachel have been great."

"I did it for you too," Quinn added quietly.

Santana hung her head, "Why? I've been the meanest bitch to ever walk the halls at McKinley. Especially to you."

"Well," Quinn smiled wistfully, "Before Santana the ultimate bitch came along there was Quinn the mega-bitch. And because once upon a time we were best friends. Not like you and Brittany, but we were close. I guess I've been missing that. Ever since last year I've wanted to go back to middle school when we were at your house or B's house or my house every weekend talking about everything and eating ice cream and watching chick flicks while me and Brittany cried and you gagged."

Santana chuckled. Quinn basically summed up two or three years of her life. "Yeah, sometimes I wish that too." Suddenly her heart ached for the days where sexuality wasn't something any of them thought about. The days when Quinn wouldn't drink wine coolers or even be in the same room as Puck without someone else because she thought he was creepy. The days when the kisses Santana stole from Brittany in the middle of the night were innocent, short, and curious.

"Friends?" Quinn asked raising her plastic cup in the air.

Santana tapped her cup to Quinn's, "Friends."

After they drank and both let out content sighs, the back door slid open. A frazzle looking Rachel stepped out and looked relieved to see the two girls, "I got Puck to take the party to his house, but the living room is still a mess and my dads will be back any second. It would be great if you two could come help."

Santana looked at her phone, "Holy shit it's already eleven." She didn't realize she'd been sitting outside thinking that long. She and Quinn scrambled to their feet, finishing of their beer as they went inside.

There was almost no talking as the girls cleaned. The beer that she chugged caused Santana to become lightheaded and slightly more happy than usual. She let out a goofy smile as she threw plastic cups into a trash bag.

"What's so funny?" Rachel questioned.

Quinn started giggling from her side of the room, which set Santana off. Apparently drinking beer that fast made both girls feel loopy.

"Great they're both drunk," Rachel rolled her eyes looking at Brittany who was just amused.

Santana quirked an eyebrow, "I'm not drunk."

"I am," Quinn grinned and fell back on the couch, "There was only a shot or two in the bottle of vodka so I finished it. You know, so your dads wouldn't find it."

"Sure," Rachel sighed, "Well we can't let them find you here like that. Go up to my room and I'll be up there in a second okay?"

Quinn furrowed her eyebrows in feigned thought before standing. "Fine. But you owe me."

"I owe _you_?" Rachel asked dumbfounded, "For what?"

"Not being drunk in front of your dads," the blonde stood up, "I'll go upstairs, but when you come up bring the Nutella and a spoon."

"Why?" Rachel called after Quinn who was slowly making her way up the stairs, "You just use your fingers anyway."

"Gross," Santana wrinkled her nose.

Rachel let out a small smile, "She has her own jar in the pantry with her name on it so no one else gets Quinn cooties."

"Is there any more ice cream?" Brittany asked, tying up the last of the trash bags.

Rachel shook her head, "Daddy, Quinn and I had a sad movie night and ate it all. Sorry."

"It's okay," Brittany smiled back.

"We can go get some," Santana said, "We'll take the trash on the way out."

"Great," Rachel added with a smirk, "I'll see you guys later. I have to go take care of Drunkerella."

Brittany and Santana took the trash out and decided that walking to the store was the best option because Santana was still a little light on her feet and Brittany disliked driving.

"So," Santana put her hands in her pockets and tried to think of something to say. When she didn't finish the thought, Brittany glanced over at her.

"What's wrong?" Brittany asked, "After we danced, you left the party."

Santana tried to joke her way out of having to tell Brittany about what she thought about, "I thought you'd want to visit all your friends. You spend all your time with me, I wouldn't want you to get sick of seeing me right?"

Brittany smiled at the attempt and looped her arm through Santana's, "I'd never get tired of seeing you."

A gust of wind caused Brittany to shiver so Santana pulled her hand out of her pocket briefly to take Brittany's hand in her own before putting their intertwined hands back into her pocket. "I hope so."

The blonde sighed contently. Everything was always to crazy around her and in moments like this she felt calm. She wanted to remember all the little moments like this.

The rest of the walk was quiet as Santana tried to formulate a speech to let Brittany know she wanted her to stay without sounding needy and Brittany just enjoyed the warmth she felt radiating from Santana.

Once inside the store, they walked to the freezer section and looked at the seventy different varieties, debating over each one thoroughly before seeing a different kind and starting a whole new debate.

Rachel walked upstairs with a tray of strawberries, a jar of Nutella, and three bottles of water. She set it on the bed next to Quinn who was smiling at her with her head resting on Rachel's pillow and a CD playing softly on the player.

"Thanks," Quinn added quietly as she sat up to survey her food.

Rachel sat down on the edge of the bed and pushed the try toward Quinn, "No problem."

Quinn gingerly took a spoonful of the chocolaty treat and coated a strawberry with it before popping it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and moaned, falling back on the bed.

Rachel chuckled, "You're too easy." She picked up a water bottle. "If you don't drink all of these you're going to have a hangover tomorrow and we need you to be one hundred percent in glee."

"I am not easy," Quinn pretended to be offended.

Rachel put some more spread on another strawberry and offered it to Quinn. The blonde took it out of her hand and popped it into her mouth. Rachel smiled smugly, "Easy."

"Have you ever tried this?" Quinn asked, making another heaven covered strawberry. She offered it to Rachel who shook her head. "Why not?"

"Because," Rachel tried to think of some decent reason, "It doesn't seem like my kind of think."

"C'mon," Quinn moved it closer to Rachel's lips. "Just try it. Just once."

Rachel looked at the food that was an inch from her face then to the blonde that was smiling at her. She sighed and bit down on the fruit. She chewed it and nodded, "You're right."

"Oh," Quinn smiled and leaned forward, "You have some uh…" She moved her finger to wipe the little bit of chocolate that was left on Rachel's lip. She inadvertently leaned forward and froze when she saw how close she was to Rachel.

Their eyes met and their breath started to rise and fall in sync. Quinn's fingers lingered on Rachel's face before falling to the bed. Quinn pushed herself away from Rachel and brought her hands to her face.

"Quinn?" Rachel asked a few seconds later, "What just happened?"

"Okay let's just get it and go," Santana grabbed the tub of ice cream, "I'm starving."

Brittany smiled and followed Santana to the check out. It all went smoothly until they were walking out. Brittany stopped dead right before walking outside. Santana looked at the blonde who had gone pale. So she followed the blue eyes and when she saw who Brittany did, her heart started pounding. Unfortunately they had also been spotted. Brittany's mom was staring back at them.


	14. Chapter 14

"C'mon B," Santana grabbed Brittany's hand, dragging her out the door. She was the first one to have regained consciousness after spotting Brittany's mom.

Brittany's heart was again crushed as the look of pure menace on her biological mother's face reached her. It felt just like it did the first time, but this time there was no numb period. Tears started to stream down her face just as they turned the corner to go back to Rachel's house.

Santana was cursing that evil woman as many times and in many languages, hoping one of them would take and she'd fall off the planet.

Rachel felt like she should say something to Quinn, but she wasn't sure exactly what happened. For a second she swore, Quinn was about to kiss her. But that would never happen. She was Quinn Fabray. Her liking of boys had gotten her pregnant, the most obvious sign of heterosexuality. So the near kiss was confusing to Rachel. Almost as much as her want to have Quinn want to kiss her.

Neither one was sure how they got all the way back to Rachel's house, but on the way up to Brittany's room, Santana knocked on Rachel's closed door and called through it, "We have a problem."

Rachel jumped out of the awkward situation in her room and practically ran to the door. Quinn took a few deep breaths and followed her, glad she didn't have to explain what the hell just happened.

When they got to Brittany's room, the blonde was already under the covers of her bed. Santana was sitting next to her stroking her hair. Quinn and Rachel moved together to sit on the other side of Brittany, just rubbing her back and being there for her.

After a few minutes, Santana kissed Brittany's cheek and whispered, "Do you need anything babe?"

"I'm thirsty," Brittany murmured into her pillow and slowly wiped the tears from her cheeks.

Rachel smiled briefly and patted Brittany's back, "I'll go get some water."

Once she got downstairs, Rachel noticed that there was a tub of melting ice cream in the entryway. As she went to pick it up, she caught sight of the downstairs bathroom. Her eyes widened when she saw a giant metal barrel still in a mess of melting ice in the bathtub.

She sprinted back upstairs and opened the door, "Uh Quinn, I need some help."

The blonde raised an eyebrow wondering how Rachel could possibly need help getting water. She followed Rachel downstairs and when the diva went toward the bathroom Quinn remembered what the problem was.

"Let's put it in the bathroom in your room," Quinn stated, "Then we'll call Puck to come get it."

Rachel stepped into the small bathroom and reached into the tub, grabbing the frosty metal handle. She grunted as she pulled the keg to sit on the edge of the tub. "I can't do it by myself."

Quinn picked up the empty trashcan that never got used in the bathroom and used it to scoop up as much ice as possible before grabbing the other handle and helping Rachel haul it upstairs. After securing it in the bathtub in Rachel's room, Rachel went back downstairs to get the water and ran back upstairs.

After downing her water, Brittany moved so that her head was on Santana's shoulder, "Can we watch a movie?"

"Of course," Santana stroked her head, "Which movie?"

"Mmm," Brittany thought for a moment.

Before they knew it they were all watching an action movie and drinking the leftover beer. Rachel leaned over and whispered to Quinn, "What are we going to do if my dads come up here? I'm so drunk." Rachel giggled a little.

The blonde playfully rolled her eyes, "You only drank one. You can't be that drunk."

"I'm not good at hiding it," Rachel confessed, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Just pretend like you're asleep," Quinn stated, "I'll cover for you."

Rachel smiled at Quinn, "Thanks." Her eyes lingered a little longer than usual before she turned back to the movie.

"I love this part," Brittany whispered to Santana right before the female lead kicked some guys ass, "It reminds me of you."

"Really?" Santana walked her fingers up Brittany's arm, causing the blonde girl to giggle. Santana loved that she was ticklish.

Brittany nodded, "Remember that time freshman year when she punched Karofsky in the nose because he slushied me?"

Santana nuzzled her nose against Brittany's cheek before kissing it. "Mhmm."

"You're like my hot action hero girl," Brittany gestured to the movie.

The head Cheerio chuckled at the analogy, but nodded, "Yeah I am."

Brittany smiled as Santana ran her hands up and down her arms. She closed her eyes, knowing that she'd always loved the way just the simplest Santana touches could make her feel. Also she loved that drinking, even the smallest amount of alcohol, made Santana frisky. So she did something she knew always drove Santana crazy.

When Brittany gently bit down on Santana's neck, Santana closed her eyes. "Mmm, Brittany…hold on."

Brittany looked confused. Every time she did that before, Santana would drag her somewhere private. Santana never stopped her before so Brittany figured it was serious. She looked at Quinn and Rachel who were seemingly engrossed the movie so, she jerked her head toward the door.

Santana nodded and led the way to Rachel's room. She watched Brittany sit on the bed before closing the door and leaning on it. She took a deep breath and looked at the ground, "I don't even know if I should tell you this."

"Tell me what San?" Brittany asked innocently from the edge of the bed.

Santana opened the door again. "C'mon stand on this side of the door and I'll stand outside okay?"

Brittany didn't know what good that would do, but Santana seemed nervous and that made her nervous. She just stood up and watched Santana step outside the door.

"B?" Santana called from the outside.

"Yeah," Brittany leaned on the door, not wanting to miss a word.

Santana closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the door, "I…I need you. I want you to stay in Lima. I know it's terrible and selfish of me because the Hague is so awesome, but I…I'd be miserable without you. I love you B. I'm so in love with you…But if being in the Hague would make you happy then I want you to go because I'd be miserable knowing that I made you miserable. You could call me every night or whatever. I'd get a job to cover the phone bills if I needed to. I just…I want you to be happy okay? So forget what I said about me wanting you to stay. I want you to be happy and that's it." She took a deep breath and paused, closing her eyes.

A good ten seconds later, Brittany uttered one sentence, "Santana, open the door."

Santana's hand was shaking as she reached for the knob knowing that she was about to get the answer to the question she'd been agonizing over for weeks. When she turned the knob and pushed the door open, Brittany immediately wrapped her in a tight embrace. Santana buried her face in Brittany's neck, clinging to the blonde. She just exposed her biggest insecurity and she felt raw. Brittany was the only one she trusted to protect her when she felt like this.

"Hey," Brittany smiled sweetly against Santana's cheek.

Santana slowly looked up at Brittany, into the blue eyes she'd fallen in love with. Brittany kissed Santana softly and then looked back into her eyes, "My dad told me that I don't have to decide where to live until this school year is over."

That wasn't quite the answer Santana was looking for. She wanted to know. At this point she _had_ to know, "Are you going to stay or go?"

"I told him that I was going to stay here," Brittany smiled, "You're here. I need you too."

A wave of relief washed over Santana. She nailed Brittany with a fierce kiss and pushed her back toward the bed. However when she opened her eyes to make sure she wasn't backing Brittany into a dresser, a giant gold star was staring back at her. She pulled away with a smirk, "I think we should move back to your room. I can't do this in here with…Barbara Streisand staring at me." She gestured to a poster on the wall.

Brittany grinned and nodded. She let Santana lead her back to her own room where they were both shocked to find Quinn and Rachel with their lips just inches apart and closing in.

"Oh. My. God." Santana said out loud.

Both of the other girls' heads whipped toward the voice and then they both jumped apart. Rachel was the first to try and explain, "I-um…we…"

"Were about to make out," Santana added with a smug smirk.

Brittany grinned, "Yay."

"We were just…" Quinn trailed off and was thankful when one of Rachel's dads called Rachel and Brittany downstairs. However that did leave her alone with Santana who was wearing one evil smile.

Brittany kissed Santana's cheek, "I'm going to tell them that I'm staying."

Santana's evil smile turned into an elated one as she watched Brittany walk downstairs with Rachel who couldn't get out of that situation fast enough.

"So," Santana stepped in and closed the door, "You were about to kiss Rachel fucking Berry."

"So?" Quinn crossed her arms and looked at the ground, "You kiss Brittany all the time."

Santana rolled her eyes, "Duh. I'm just saying…Is this new or have you somehow managed to stay under my radar?"

Quinn was half tempted to tell Santana it had been going on for years just to piss her off that she didn't pick up on it. However, she knew she couldn't lie to her. "It's…new? I mean it hasn't actually happened yet."

"How long have you wanted to kiss her?" Santana walked to the window and pulled the curtain closed which made Quinn a little nervous.

The blonde shrugged, "I dunno. It just happened one night when we were practicing for glee. I noticed little things you know? Anyway, I got kinda drunk and almost kissed her twice tonight."

"Well let's get you both really drunk so you can get it over with," Santana suggested, "That way while you two go at it in Rachel's room, I can have Brittany to myself and no one will walk in on us."

"That was one time!" Quinn squealed, "And I didn't mean to. I just forgot my phone. I didn't think you were going to jump her bones as soon as the door closed."

The head Cheerio grinned, "Well, now you know."

Rachel and Brittany appeared a few seconds later while Santana and Quinn were watching the end of the movie. Rachel beamed and looked at Quinn, "Brittany's staying."

"That's great," Quinn stood up and hugged Brittany. "I'm so glad you're staying."

"And they know you're here," Rachel explained, "Which they said is okay because of the incident earlier at the store. Also you dropped the ice cream in the foyer and it melted everywhere, which they also said was okay. They had cleaned it up before we got downstairs."

Quinn just nodded, having no idea what she was talking about. She had no idea that there was any ice cream in the foyer.

"C'mon Berry," Santana dragged the singer back to her room, "Let's finish off the beer so we can sneak that giant keg out of the house tomorrow."

Brittany just looked at Quinn who let out a nervous smile. Nothing good really happened when she got drunk, although this time she was sure that she wouldn't get pregnant.


	15. Chapter 15

Quinn and Rachel were dancing around each other all night, trying to keep one person between them at all times. Finally she just got up and went to the bathroom for a refill. If she was going to be bored, she was going to be drunk and bored.

Brittany carefully watched Santana and when the Cheerio returned with a full cup and sat down on the edge of the bed, she moved from between Rachel and Quinn to sit next to her. Santana offered her full cup to Brittany to took a few sips of it before handing it back.

"So are you going to live here until graduation?" Santana asked the blonde.

Brittany nodded, "Rachel's dads said I could stay here as long as I want, but I'd feel bad staying after graduation." She leaned into Santana, "So I guess I have to get into college or something."

"That will not be a problem," Santana grinned, "After that win at nationals and the two we're going to have before we graduate, there will be colleges begging you to come cheer for them."

The blonde sighed, "I hope so." She glanced over at Quinn and Rachel who were so close to a kiss it was painful.

Santana was tired of the games and called, "Get a room! Your own room!"

Quinn chuckled uncomfortably and looked at Rachel, "Let's go to your room, okay?"

"I think we need to talk," Rachel mumbled, trying to force coherent thought out of her mouth.

The blonde ex-Cheerio nodded and took the singer's hand, leading her out of the room.

As soon as the door closed, Santana pushed Brittany onto her back on the bed, "Now that we're alone…" She trailed off and slowly crawled up the blonde's body.

Brittany ran her hand up Santana's jean covered thigh and although the demin separated their skin, Santana still got goose bumps. She continued running her hands up Santana's stomach and to her shoulder before taking Santana's face in her hands and pulling her down for a sweet kiss.

Just as Santana's hand was started to sneak up under Brittany's shirt, a loud buzzing filled the room followed by a cell phone ringing. Brittany looked at the nightstand where her phone was and Santana took advantage of this by kissing down the blonde's neck.

"Mmm.." Brittany hummed and forgot all about her phone ringing.

Once the phone was silences, Santana attacked Brittany's lips and the blonde tangled her hands in Santana's hair. Then the phone rang again.

Brittany sighed out of the kiss a pulled away. Santana groaned as she reached for the phone. Brittany flipped it open and answered, "Hello…Hey Schuyler…."

Santana rolled off of Brittany and growled into a pillow. Schuyler was an hour away and she was still ruining her life.

"So," Rachel sat on the edge of her bed and looked at Quinn. The blonde sat next to her and carefully took Rachel's hand. The singer looked up at her, "What…were you going to kiss me?"

Quinn bit her lip thinking about the consequences of her answer. She didn't have long though before a tapping noise started in the room. She looked to the window where the tapping persisted. She saw a round white thing hit the window before falling to the ground.

Rachel stood up and walked to her window. She saw Finn on the ground in her front yard with a bag of marshmallows in his hand. He smiled at her.

Rachel opened the window and glanced back at Quinn who was standing from the bed. Then she asked Finn, "What are you doing?"

"This is what they do in all those chick flicks. It's romantic and stuff. I just didn't want to throw pebbles because it might break the window," he held up the bag of marshmallows, "So I used marshmallows." He popped one into his mouth, "Can you come down?"

Quinn finally appeared in the window, "Finn?"

"Quinn?" he asked back. He shook his head, "Sorry to interrupt your…sleepover." His eyes turned to Rachel, "But I need to talk to you."

"What are you doing here?" A voice asked from behind Finn.

He turned around, "Puck, what are you doing here?"

"I forgot something and I wanted to talk to Brittany," Puck walked forward to the front door. "Why are you standing out here with a bag of marshmallows?" He opened the front door and walked in.

Finn felt a little stupid standing outside when Puck just walked in so he followed.

Brittany was the first one down the stairs and hugged Puck. He smiled, "Hey, how's it going?"

"Great, Schuyler's going to be here tomorrow," she informed him then frowned, "Santana cursed and locked herself in the bathroom though."

Finn saw Rachel come down the stairs, "Hey," he smiled nervously then offered her the bag in his hand, "Marshmallow?"

She shook her head, "Um, no thanks." She stood in front of him, "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, "I'm not sure, I didn't get past this part in the movie. I guess I came to ask you out."

"Out?" Rachel asked, "Like on a date?"

He nodded with a smile. "Yeah that."

"I can't believe her!" Santana snapped when she unlocked the bathroom door and stormed out, "She's ruining my damn life."

Quinn shut the window in Rachel's room and sat on the bed with a frown on her face, "I can't believe him. He's ruining my life."


	16. Chapter 16

"Why is there melted ice cream in the hallway?" Puck asked, pointing to the puddle in the foyer.

"Oh my god," Rachel ran into the kitchen and returned with a towel. She immediately got down on the ground and started trying to sop up the mess. Brittany went to help her and took the box and plastic bag to the trash.

"What are you doing here?" Santana rolled her eyes at Puck as she went down the stairs. Then she looked at Finn, "You too."

"I came to see if Britt was okay," Puck shrugged, "Quinn texted me what happened. So I left the party and came over."

Santana nodded approvingly then crossed her arms with an expectant look at Finn.

"I-I came to see Rachel," he replied, nervously shoving his hands into his pockets, "She lives here."

To that answer, Santana shook her head. "Not in a million years."

"Wait-what?" Finn furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you talking about?"

Just then Rachel and Brittany walked back in having cleaned the foyer of any foreign material. Brittany walked over to Santana and smiled at her. Then she looked up at Puck, "I decided that I'm staying."

He grinned and pulled her into a hug, "That's awesome."

"Cool," Finn added, "I'm glad you're staying Brittany."

She smiled sweetly at both boys. "Thanks."

"Puckerman," Santana barked, "Kitchen." She stalked past the group and into the kitchen. Puck ran his hand over his mowhawk and followed her.

By this time Quinn had decided to make her appearance downstairs. She didn't want Finn getting to talk to Rachel too much because she had a lot of talking to do herself. So when she got downstairs she walked right up to Rachel who smiled nervously and Finn who just looked nervous.

"What's up guys?" she asked, insincerely. She wanted to interrupt any conversation that was going on between the two.

"Um, nothing," Finn answered for them both because Rachel was, for once in her life, silent. "I kinda wanted to talk to Rachel."

"Well I kinda want to watch a movie," Quinn stated with a tone in her voice that left no room for argument. She looked at Rachel and took her hand, "C'mon Rach, can you show me how to put one on?"

Rachel allowed Quinn to pull her to the middle of the living room in front of the TV, although Quinn had been over to her house thousands of times and had had to show Rachel how to put on a movie when her dads added the surround sound speakers.

"What are we watching?" Brittany asked, walking over to the girls.

"The Devil Wears Prada," Quinn grinned, picking up the DVD case, "Rachel's daddy's favorite movie of all time."

Rachel chuckled, "It's true. He kind of has a thing for Simon Baker."

"Wide screen or full screen?" Quinn asked with the remote in her hand. Finn had finally given up on getting to talk to Rachel and sat on the loveseat, hoping that she would sit with him and they could talk after the movie.

Santana and Puck returned from the kitchen. Puck had a sly smile on his face while Santana still looked pissed. Puck walked to the couch and sat down in one corner while Santana sat in the armchair with her arms crossed.

As the movie started, Brittany went to make popcorn. Quinn sat on the loveseat next to Finn so Rachel couldn't sit there. Then Rachel sat on the opposite end of the couch from Puck knowing what Quinn was doing, but not really knowing what to do beside sit and watch the movie.

When Brittany returned, she sat between Puck and Rachel in the last available seat, setting the popcorn on the table. As the movie went on, Finn kept looking at Rachel trying to figure out a way to sit next to her. Quinn kept looking at Finn, trying to get him to implode using sheer willpower. Santana kept glancing at Puck and Brittany. Puck had his arm around Brittany and she rested her head on his shoulder as they shared the popcorn. The head Cheerio was stewing in her seat. She kept telling herself that they were just friends, but something in the back of her mind was telling her that Puck wanted more.

Brittany seemed the only one that had been completely absorbed in the movie. Most of the time Puck would have gouged his own eyes out before he watching a chick flick like this one, but he liked spending time with Brittany and if that meant chick flicks then that was okay with him.

Rachel just fidgeted in her seat, uncomfortable with the whole situation. So the first chance for her to leave, she took it. She picked up the empty popcorn bowl and walked into the kitchen with it. She took a few seconds to gather herself before putting another bag of popcorn in the microwave.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned around to find Quinn lurking in the doorway. She was about to say something when Quinn took a few quick strides and closed the gap between them. When she felt Quinn's strong yet soft hands on her hips and Quinn's warm, velvety lips on her own, she felt her knees go weak. She moaned when she felt Quinn gently suck on her bottom lip before nipping at it. She brought her shaking hands up and tangled them in the golden hair.

Finally Quinn pulled away and grinned at the dumbfounded look on Rachel's face. Quinn leaned forward and whispered in her head, "I've wanted to do that for a long time." With that, Quinn walked back into the living room, plopping down on the loveseat next to Finn who had become engrossed in the movie.

Rachel had to take a minute to catch her breath before getting the popcorn out of the microwave and absently dumping it into the bowl.

Just as she was picking up the bowl the front door open, scaring Rachel out of her thoughts, causing her to drop the bowl, sending popcorn flying all over the kitchen.

Her dad smiled kindly at her, "Did we scare you sweetheart?"

Rachel nodded and got on the floor, starting to pick up the popcorn. The flustered look on her face cause her dad to kneel down next to her, "Are you okay?"

Her daddy closed the door and surveyed the two on the floor before walking to the pantry and getting the broom out to help.

"Yeah," Rachel shook her head and put some hair behind her ear. "I'm just…some people stayed after the party and now we're watching a movie."

Her daddy nodded, "I saw the cars still outside."

Rachel ran a hand through her hair and stood up watching her daddy sweep up the remaining popcorn.

"Are you sure you're okay?" her dad put his arm around her and put his hand to her forehead, "You feel a little warm and you're a little pale."

"I'm fine," Rachel shook out of the embrace, "You just scared me. I'm gonna…I…" Her train of thought derailed and she stared at the door where Quinn appeared a few minutes prior and shut down all the working parts of her brain.

"You should probably get to bed," her dad rubbed her back.

Rachel numbly nodded, "Yeah." She didn't say goodnight, she just walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room.

Santana was the only one to look up when Rachel's dads entered the room. Her dad surveyed the room, "You all are welcome to stay as long as you like, but Rachel isn't feeling well and went to bed." He glanced at his watch, "If you are going to stay much long I think you should all call your parents."

Santana looked at the clock on the wall. Her parents were probably wondering where she was. "I should probably go."

Finn nodded, "Me too."

Brittany stood so Puck could get up and Quinn stood as well. Although she could do pretty much whatever she wanted, since Rachel was in bed there was really no reason for her to stay.

"I'm going to go upstairs and get my stuff," Quinn announced and slowly walked up the stairs, wondering if their kiss had anything to do with Rachel's sudden illness. She really hoped not because it was amazing for her. If Rachel didn't want any part of it, she'd be heartbroken.

When she got up the stairs, Quinn slowly opened the door. It was dark inside the room and she could see Rachel already under the covers. She sighed and went to get her purse by the nightstand.

Rachel squeezed her eyes shut. Whoever was at the door could wait to talk until tomorrow. She heard footsteps near her bed and a slight rustling at the nightstand. Then the mattress sank down by the door and she felt a warm hand on her blanketed back. As the person shifted she could smell the light perfumed smell of Quinn's hair. She was sure that the blonde would be able to hear her heart hammering.

Then she felt a gentle kiss on her head and heard Quinn whisper, "I hope you feel better."

Brittany walked Santana out to her car, gently holding her hand.

"What time is Schuyler going to be here tomorrow?" Santana asked.

"Right before glee is over," Brittany explained, "But I'm not going to skip. Rachel said we need all the practice we can get."

"Let me know if you need me to take you two somewhere or something," Santana was trying her best to be nice although when she left she was debating whether or not to break into Puck's house and shave off his stupid mowhawk for getting all comfortable with Brittany during the movie.

Brittany nodded, obviously tired. She watched Quinn walked to her car with a thoughtful look. She looked up at the two Cheerios and gave a half-hearted wave before getting into her car.

Santana pulled Brittany into a brief kiss before holding her close for a few minutes. Then she sighed and kissed the blonde again who was now giddy from all the affection, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Brittany echoed.

Then she watched Santana get into her car to drive off before walking back inside to go to bed.


	17. Chapter 17

Santana laid in bed a few hours later staring at the ceiling. She couldn't go to sleep. The image of Puck and Brittany cuddled on the couch. Sure that's what some friends did, that's what she and Brittany did before they were more than friends, but she didn't like that Puck was making googly eyes at her girlfriend.

She rolled over and picked up her phone. Sometimes Brittany couldn't sleep when Santana couldn't. Brittany said something cheesy like it's because their hearts were connected, but Santana rolled her eyes, although secretly believing it.

She set a short text to her favorite blonde before laying back on the bed staring at the ceiling.

A few seconds later the phone vibrated. She flipped it open reading Brittany's reply, _No I can't sleep. What are you thinking about?_

_You of course ;)_

_Hehe…what are you thinking about me?_

_I'm thinking that I wish you were here._

The text conversation went on for about an hour before Brittany fell asleep, ending the conversation.

The next day at glee, Quinn's hands were shaking as she was waiting for Rachel to walk in. She had seen the songstress earlier in the day walking to her classes, but she had managed to avoid her. Her temporary courage that helped her kiss Rachel last night was completely gone. She didn't know how she was going to handle glee. Somehow they usually ended up sitting next to each other. So Quinn took a seat in the back hoping that Rachel would take her usual seat in the front.

Santana and Brittany walked in pinkie in pinkie. Brittany had gone over to Santana's house early that morning so that Santana could show the blonde what she had been thinking about the night before, making Santana a smidge more pleasant than she usual.

Brittany looked at Quinn who was in her usual seat before taking the seat next to her. "Hi Quinn."

"Hey," Quinn looked at Brittany and pretty much anywhere that wasn't the door.

"What's up with you?" Santana quirked an eyebrow, "You look like you're in labor again."

The ex-Cheerio shot a glare at Santana, "I do not." However she brought her hand to smooth out the hair that may or may not be sticking up. Then her eyes caught motion at the door. What she saw made her heart drop.

Finn walked in with Rachel under his arm. He was smiling while she had a much weaker smile on her face with distant eyes. As soon as she completely entered the room, her eyes found Quinn's. After a brief exchange, Rachel's eyes dropped to the ground while Finn guided her to the chairs in the front.

Brittany looked between Quinn and Santana who seemed to both be studying the new couple. Puck walked in and sat on the empty chair on the other side of Brittany, "What's up?"

Brittany frowned and looked at Puck, "Quinn's mad."

"What's wrong Fabray?" Puck leaned forward to see Quinn around Brittany and Santana, "Did Berry steal your man again?"

"Shut up Puck," Quinn glared at him with a menace that was ten times the menace she could have mustered even when she was pregnant. It was completely evident that Quinn was pissed.

Puck looked from Quinn to Rachel and Finn and then back before a wicked smile formed on his face, "No way."

Quinn just rolled her eyes, grabbed her purse and stalked out. Brittany started to follow her but Santana grabbed the blonde's hand. "She'll want to be alone for a while. I'll go check on her after glee, okay?"

The blonde sighed and nodded. Then she caught Santana's eye, seeing the head Cheerio's lips curl into a reassuring smile. Brittany couldn't help, but smile back.

Quinn continued her furious walk until she got outside. Then she walked out to the football field and up to the bleachers. There was one other girl on it that was smoking a cigarette. At that point Quinn didn't care, she plopped down in the middle of the bleachers and angrily stared at the field.

"Bad day," the girl asked from a few yards away, blowing out a stream of smoke.

"No, it's just fucking great," Quinn snapped, not even looking at the girl. She really wasn't in the mood for company.

The girl stepped down a few of the bleachers and sat down next to Quinn, apparently not getting the hint, "That look means girl trouble."

Quinn whirled her head to the right and looked at the girl. How the hell did this girl know what was going on, "What?"

The girl smirked as she inhaled her cigarette, "Guy trouble? Some guy steal your girl? Some girl steal your guy? That evil glare crossed with the heartbroken stare kind of gave it away." The girl pushed her long brown hair out of her face as the Ohio wind whipped around her.

"Who are you?" Quinn quipped and let out a silent sigh, the angry wearing off and the heartbroken taking over. She just really, really wanted this girl to go away.

"I'm someone who is in the same boat as you," the girl replied, smoking that last of her cigarette before tossing it through the hole in the bleachers, watching it waft all the way to the ground, "There's a girl in that school that is dating a complete ass and I'm moving halfway across the world to convince her to be with me." The girl crossed her arms and leaned on her knees, following Quinn's eyes back to the green grass in front of them

Quinn raised an eyebrow finally noticing the soft accent the girl had. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but if sounded sort of familiar.

"Do you know what time glee gets out?" the girl asked, looking at Quinn again.

Quinn looked at her phone for the time and answered, "In like half an hour." Then it finally dawned on her who the girl was. "You're Schuyler aren't you?"

The girl grinned and stood, "Yeah. You must be friends with Brittany. Nice to meet you, but I gotta go plan a grand romantic gesture in half an hour. Good luck with your girl problem."

The blonde was about to say something else, but Schuyler trotted off down the stairs. Quinn watched her jump into what looked like a brand new car in the parking lot before taking off down the road.

Quinn whipped out her phone and sent a quick text to Santana giving her fair warning, then hoped that Schuyler wasn't anywhere near her when Santana read it.

After living with Rachel for a long time, Brittany knew when something was wrong with her. She watched as Rachel sang without the usual light in her eyes. Her performance was flat and unenthusiastic. It was like someone sucked out her soul. Brittany sighed, trying to think of some way to make Rachel feel better.

Santana looked over at Brittany who was obviously preoccupied. So preoccupied that the blonde forgot to sing during the chorus of the song. She reached over and took Brittany's hand as she swayed to the music. The other Cheerio looked over at her and finally remembered to sing.

Still a little worried about Brittany's not so cheery mood, she threaded her fingers together through Brittany's and offered her a small smile. Brittany smiled back because she loved it when Santana smiled.

In the Cheerios locker room, a loud buzz filled the empty space. Santana's phone lit up on the top shelf of her locker with a new text message from Quinn.


	18. Chapter 18

When glee was over, Santana and Brittany didn't leave immediately. Brittany looked at her phone. She had gotten a text message from Schuyler a little earlier. She was waiting outside with her rental car. Brittany wasn't sure what they were going to do. She guessed that she was going to show Schuyler around Lima before she took off to the next university on the list.

"I need to get my phone out of my Cheerios locker," Santana told Brittany. "Will I see you later tonight?"

"Of course," Brittany smiled, "I'll call you when I get home okay?" She glanced at her phone, "My little battery thing is blinking so my phone will probably die."

"Okay," Santana stood up and pulled Brittany up with her, "I think I'm going to practice a little for Cheerios before I leave."

The blonde smiled as they walked to the door. She hugged her once they got into the hallway. "Have fun.."

"You too," Santana pulled away and kissed Brittany, making sure that the blonde could feel it. She smiled to herself when she felt Brittany dip a little after her knees went weak. "Call me."

Santana watched Brittany walked out the school before going to the Cheerios' locker room. She opened her locker and slowly changed into her white practice shirt and red cotton shirts. Just as she was about to close her lockers, she remembered her phone. When she saw she had a text from Quinn she was a little surprised. She opened it and read it once. Then she read it again.

"That skanky little bitch!" Santana growled and immediately called Brittany. However, the call went straight to the blonde's voicemail.

Forgetting that she wanted to practice for Cheerios, Santana grabbed her keys and slammed her locker shut before she ran out the door.

As she was leaving the school, she saw Quinn walking to the parking lot from the football field. She trotted over to the blonde and asked, "Where'd the go?"

"No idea," Quinn shrugged, "She just left and then came back to pick up Brittany. I can't believe you let her go."

"I just got your text," Santana waved her phone in the air, "I left it in my locker."

Quinn looked out over the almost empty lot, "There's no telling where they went, but we could go wait for them."

"Them?" Santana asked leading they way to their cars that were parked close together.

"I need to talk to Rachel," Quinn stated with her arms crossed.

Santana nodded, "I thought so. I'll meet you there."

They both drove rather quickly to Rachel's house. When they got out they both slowly walked up to the front porch. Quinn planted herself on the steps leading up to the front door and Santana sat a step above Quinn. Had they both not been so pissed Quinn would have said something about Santana's need to be above her.

It wasn't long before the front door opened. Rachel's dad stepped out and looked at the two girls that were sitting on the stairs. "You know, you girls are welcome to come in if you want. You don't have to wait for Rachel and Brittany."

Santana shook her head, "Thanks, but I'm going to wait right here."

"Me too," Quinn nodded.

He nodded, "Well if you girls need anything let me know. Feel free to come in if you want."

"Thanks Mr. Berry," Quinn forced a smile.

"Yeah thanks," Santana didn't try to force a smile. She just nodded and looked back out to the street.

They sat outside for about an hour before an unfamiliar car with a way too familiar driver pulls to a stop outside. Schuyler opened her door and got out. Brittany got out of the car as well. She smiled at something Schuyler said in Dutch and then laughed when Schuyler added something else.

When she saw this Santana's heart sank. She didn't want them to be getting along. She wanted Schuyler to drop Brittany off before Brittany ran into her arms to profess her undying love and loyalty to Santana.

Santana stood up and started to walk off, but Quinn grabbed her hand. She glanced at the blonde who shook her head, "Just give her a second."

Brittany nor Schuyler seemed to see them so they continued their conversation over the top of the car before walking together to the sidewalk.

When Schuyler saw Santana she froze. Fear flashed over her face while she walked with Brittany. Quinn stood up and looked around. Santana was pissed and the shit was about to hit the fan.

No one said anything for a long while so Quinn finally added, "Hey B, have you seen Rachel?"

The blonde nodded, "We saw her at the mall with Finn."

Quinn sighed and let her head dropped, "Okay. Thanks."

"Oh San," Brittany looked at the head Cheerio, "Is your car unlocked? I left my sunglasses in there?"

Santana nodded and led Brittany to her car.

When they were both out of earshot Quinn asked Schuyler, "So, how'd it go?"

Schuyler eyed Quinn before figuring that the blonde couldn't do much more harm that may happen to her when Santana got back, "I chickened out. But we had a good time roller-skating and stuff. Brittany's really great."

"Yeah," Quinn agreed, "She is."

When they two Cheerios got back, they were hand in hand. Santana saw the glare that Schuyler was shooting her and sneered, "What the hell is your problem?"

"You're my problem apparently," Schuyler replied, not wanting to look weak or scared of the head Cheerio.

Brittany looked confused between them before looking to Quinn. The other blonde just watched Santana ready to jump in to keep the head Cheerio from going to jail.

"What the hell did I do to you?" Santana took a step forward, "You don't even know me."

Schuyler stood her ground, "I know you enough to know that you don't deserve to be with Brittany."

"And you do?" Santana raised her eyebrows.

The Dutch girl nodded, "I do. I'd treat her way better than you ever do."

Santana shoved Schuyler, "You don't know the first thing about how I treat her."

"I know that when we were in the Hague she cried over you for two days," Schuyler narrowed her eyes. "You made her cry like that for days. I'd never do that to her."

Santana's eyes flickered to Brittany who just looked at the ground. That was something she never really intended for Santana to know.

"You don't even know what was going on," Santana took another step forward.

Schuyler then made the mistake of pushing Santana back. Brittany knew what could happen so she ran into the house.

Instead of knocking the Dutch out of Schuyler like she was going to, Santana ran inside after Brittany. Schuyler took off after both of them into the house. Soon there were both standing outside Brittany's bedroom door.

"C'mon B, let me in," Santana pleaded through the door.

There was silence before Santana turned to Schuyler and hissed, "This is all your fault. If you hadn't come here none of this would have happened."

Outside, Quinn had taken to sitting on the stairs again, waiting for Rachel. She didn't have to wait long though. Finn's car pulled up behind Schuyler's. He parked it and got out to open the door for Rachel.

Once again Quinn found herself robbed of all courage. She wanted to just run away and pretend like nothing ever happened between them. Like the looks that lingered a little too long were just imagined and that the touches were dreams.

But when Rachel saw Quinn she knew that it was all too real. Rachel's attention was stolen by Finn, who leaned down and kissed her.

Rachel forced a smile after the kiss and then looked away. He gave her a brief hug before getting back into his car. The singer slowly walked up the walkway, her head down and her arms crossed.

Quinn stood as she neared and tired to think of something to say. When nothing came she and Rachel just stood at the steps. Finally Rachel said, "Do you want to come inside?"

The blonde nodded and followed Rachel inside the house. They walked up to the room, right past Santana and Schuyler who were bickering quietly in the hallway.

Once inside Quinn sat on the edge of the bed while Rachel closed the door and started pacing the room. Then she stopped in front of Quinn and ran a hand through her hair. "There's no denying that there is something between us."

The blonde kept her eyes on her hands because she knew that there was a 'but' coming in at the end of that sentence. She just sighed and stood up, "I know. You don't even have to explain. I'll just…go home."

"Wait Quinn," Rachel took Quinn's hand without thinking. Then she slid her fingers between the blonde's realizing that their hands fit perfectly together. "I just…how many gay women do you know of on Broadway?"

Quinn shrugged, "Rach, I only know like two people from Broadway and that's because they've been in movies."

"Well there aren't many, if any," Rachel replied her eyes guarded. She stepped closer to Quinn, taking the blonde's other hand.

Quinn nodded seeing where she was going with that, "I thought you were braver than that. I thought you weren't scared to do anything to get what you wanted." She disengaged her hands from Rachel's.

"Quinn, wait," Rachel tried to stop the blonde from leaving, but Quinn just kept walking, "I'm not…I'm not as strong as you."

"You're stronger," Quinn paused at the door before slipped out the door, closing it behind her.

Santana sat in the hallway against Brittany's door. She'd managed to scare Schuyler out, but hadn't managed to get Brittany out.

A heavy footstep coming up the stairs shook Santana out of her own thoughts. When she looked up, Puck was standing there, his flannel shirt hanging on his shoulders and his jeans sagging just a little bit.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped.

He shrugged, "Brittany texted me." He put his hand on the doorknob and Santana realized it had probably been open for a while. "I'll call you when she wants you okay?"

Santana was a little incensed that Brittany called Puck, but what else could she do. She walked downstairs and fell back on the couch, waiting to be summoned.


	19. Chapter 19

Brittany laid on her bed next to Puck with a thoughtful smile on her face. "I don't get it."

"You don't get them fighting over you?" Puck asked with a chuckled, "Because I think I could clarify for you babe."

The blonde sucked on her bottom lip, "I don't get it. It's stupid."

"You're pretty awesome if you think about it for a while," Puck smirked and wrapped his arms around her.

Brittany giggled, "Maybe."

"You okay now?" Puck asked, "I've been gone for almost an hour and my mom is probably wondering where I am."

Brittany nodded, "Yeah." She sat up and slid off of the bed, "Thanks for coming over."

"No problem," he got up off of the bed and walked to the door with her. They both walked down the stairs to find Santana asleep on the couch. Brittany had to push Puck toward the door to keep him from doing something mean to the helpless Cheerio.

They said goodbye at the door before Puck stepped outside and walked home.

Brittany walked back inside and looked at Santana before rounding the couch. She gently took the TV remote out of the other girl's hand and then laid down next to her facing the brunette. She immediately felt Santana's arms tighten around her and Santana bury her face against her shoulder. A few seconds later, she felt a small kiss on the side of her neck.

"Hey," Brittany whispered with a kiss to Santana's forehead.

The sleepy Cheerio pulled away to look at the blue eyes she loved so much, "Hey back."

They just laid there and watched each other before Brittany finally asked, as she ran her finger lightly along Santana's jaw line, "What are you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I don't really show you how much I love you all the time." She tangled her fingers in Brittany's bringing the pale knuckles up to her lips to place a chaste kiss on them, "And I'm going to work on that. I promise."

Brittany beamed and kissed Santana.

"And I overreacted today," Santana traced every feature of Brittany's face with her eyes, "I shouldn't have yelled at Schuyler. I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," Brittany giggled.

Santana smiled, "I'll make it up to you. I swear."

The next day Rachel was hesitant to walk into glee at all. She didn't want to see Quinn. The heartbroken look on the blonde's face yesterday was enough to almost make Rachel throw everything she ever worked for away.

Fortunately, when Rachel scanned the red plastic chairs of her peers, Quinn was nowhere to be found. However when she walked in with Finn, Rachel saw that Quinn was standing next to the piano, looking over some music with Brad.

Just as she walked by Quinn's eyes rose and they momentarily locked gazes. Rachel almost fell into a music stand because she stopped paying attention to where she was walking. She finally managed to rip her eyes from the blonde and sink into one of the chairs in the front row.

"Alright guys", Mr. Schue walked up to the front of the club with his usual dimpled smile, "I've decided that a few people have taken leads and other people have been sort of pushed to the side. So this week everyone is going to sing one solo song of their choice in front of the whole club. Favorite song gets put into the running to be one of our competition songs." He glanced behind him at Quinn who was now behind a microphone stand. "And Quinn has volunteered to go first."

Everyone clapped as Quinn took a deep breath and signaled for Brad to start playing.

_She loves her mama's lemonade,_  
_Hates the sound that goodbyes make._  
_She prays one day she'll find someone to need her._  
_She swears that there's no difference,_  
_Between the lies and compliments._  
_It's all the same if everybody leaves her._

Rachel's heart began to make rapid, shallow beats. She knew that Quinn was singing to her. It was almost like this song was written about her. It was like Quinn was singing about Rachel. Telling the entire club what a sham her relationship with Finn was. Quinn was telling them about the secrets that Rachel had told her and telling the world about everything they talked about into the wee hours of the morning.

_And every magazine tells her she's not good enough,_  
_The pictures that she's seen make her cry._

_And she would change everything, everything just ask her._  
_Caught in the in-between, a beautiful disaster,_  
_And she just needs someone to take her home._

Tears started to build in Rachel's eyes. She tried to blink them away, but they just kept coming. This song was her life. Every move she'd ever made had been captured by the simple lyrics of the simple song Quinn was singing. Every time Quinn would look at her with her pure green eyes, Rachel could feel Quinn burrowing into her soul, pushing all the intensity of her song into Rachel's heart.

_She's giving boys what they want, tries to act so nonchalant,_  
_Afraid they'll see that she's lost her direction._  
_She never stays the same for long,_  
_Assuming that she'll get it wrong._  
_Perfect only in her imperfections._

_She's not a drama queen,_  
_She doesn't want to feel this way, only seventeen, but tired_

_She would change everything for happy ever after._  
_Caught in the in between, a beautiful disaster,_  
_But she just needs someone to take her home._

When the song wound down Rachel had tears streaming down her face. Finn finally noticed and tried to put his arm around her. She slid out of his reach before walking out of the room.

Quinn immediately followed, concerned that her song had hit too close to home for the songstress. She knew that Rachel went into the bathroom down the hall. It was the same bathroom Rachel usually used to pick slushy out of her hair. So she pushed the door open to find Rachel standing by the sinks, just staring at the floor.

"Rach, I'm sorr-" Quinn started but her apology was cut short by Rachel's lips on her own. She could taste the salty tears the shorter girl had shed as they ran between their lips. She leaned into the kiss absorbing as much as possible in case this was a one-time thing.

When Rachel pulled away, she gently wiped her own tears off of Quinn's face before drying her own face. She took a deep breath, "I'm not brave enough."

Quinn ran her fingers the length of Rachel's hair, "We could be brave together."

Rachel kissed Quinn again, catching the blonde off guard. Her hand found its way into Quinn's hair as the other one softly caressed the ex-Cheerios side. Rachel starting to shake her head caused her to lose Quinn's lips, "I can't. I'm not…I-I feel so helpless around you. I want to kiss you all the time and I-I can't."

"You can," Quinn whispered and took Rachel's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Just think about it. Come over to my house tonight and tell me what you decide, okay?"

After thinking it over and searching Quinn's eyes for any sign this was a huge joke but finding none, Rachel rested her forehead against Quinn's, "Okay. I'll be there at nine fifteen."

Quinn grinned at Rachel's exact arrival time. She knew that Rachel would be there at nine fifteen on the dot too. She kissed Rachel again before slipping out of the bathroom to leave the singer to her thoughts.

"What's wrong mija?" Santana's mom asked when she saw Santana laying on the couch in the living room staring at the ceiling.

Santana looked up at her mom and sighed, "Uh, if dad did something really stupid and he wanted to make it up to you, what would you want him to do?"

"I'd want him to do the dishes," Santana's mom smiled and sat down next to her daughter.

The Cheerio groaned and picked up a couch pillow to put over her face.

Her mom took the pillow away to look at her daughter, "Just take Brittany to do something that she loves to do. I'll give you an advance on your allowance tomorrow morning, but it would probably be a lot cheaper for you if you stopped overreacting."

"How did you know?" Santana frowned.

"Because you're my daughter and you've been overreacting since you could walk," she chuckled and put the pillow back over her daughter's face. "If I was you though, I wouldn't ask your father about how to be romantic. He's a lot of things. Romantic is not one of them."

Santana chuckled at her mom's joke and felt her mom stand up. She moved the pillow off of her face and smiled, "Thanks mom."

"You're welcome," she said back, "Now get to bed. You can plan your big apology tomorrow."

"Okay mom," Santana rolled off the couch and rubbed her eyes. She was really tired and the whole Rachel/Quinn drama today didn't help. After Rachel ran off crying and Quinn went after her, neither one came back. Brittany insisted on tracking Quinn down and when they did, they took Quinn for ice cream, but didn't manage to get any details out of her. She just stared at her ice cream and was really quiet.

Then Brittany wanted to go home to study and that's where Santana left her. She came home, did her chores, and ate dinner with her parents before exhausting her brain trying to think of a way to show Brittany that she really did love her completely.

Once in her room, Santana threw on one of Brittany's t-shirts that the blonde had left a few weeks ago and then put on a CD Brittany made for her. Well, Santana made the CD, but Brittany picked the songs. Then she curled into her bed and closed her eyes imagining that Brittany was laying in bed with her.

* * *

The song Quinn sang is "Beautiful Disaster" by Jon Mclaughlin


	20. Chapter 20

Quinn was about to give up on Rachel coming when she heard a knock on her bedroom window. She hurried across the room and pulled back to curtains. She smiled when she saw Rachel standing under her window, twirling her hair around her finger, looking adorably nervous.

The blonde opened the window and looked expectantly at the singer.

"Um, I knocked on the front door for four minutes but no one answered," Rachel explained, looking at her shoes and then at Quinn and then back at her shoes.

Quinn reached down next to her and handed Rachel a wooden box she had always used for sneaking out because, for a first floor window, it was pretty high off of the ground. Rachel was able to get up fairly easily. She removed her shoe before stepping on the carpet because she had had to walk through a wet flower garden to get to the window.

Quinn just sat on the bed, patiently waiting for Rachel to get her remaining shoe off. Rachel seemed to be taking her time, delaying whatever she was going to say. When she was done, she set her shoe on the windowsill next to the other one and brought her eyes to Quinn.

They were still like that for a while, just watching each other. Finally Rachel started to move. She took a few purposeful steps toward the bed and leaned down, pulling Quinn into a forceful kiss. The blonde automatically brought her hands up to Rachel's demin covered legs while Rachel gently held Quinn's face in her hands. The singer brought one knee up to rest on the bed next to Quinn before bringing the other one up.

Quinn's hands moved to Rachel's sides where they blindly searched for the smallest amount of bare skin. They found it on the small of Rachel's back. Her hands seemed to gain a mind of their own as they ran up Rachel's smooth back, stopping just below the back of her bra before running back down, never once losing contact with Rachel's lips.

Rachel managed to lower Quinn onto her back before moving her lips to the blonde's jaw, nipping and kissing the area before moving to her neck. She closed her eyes and inhaled before placing another kiss on the pale skin. She loved everything about being around Quinn. Her smell, her touch, the way her skin tasted…it was euphoric.

The blonde closed her eyes and brought one of her hands up to Rachel's hair. This was intoxicating. If she needed to move anytime soon, she would be in trouble because her legs weren't going to be able to support her weight anytime soon. And although she loved any and all physical contact with Rachel, she needed an answer from the shorter girl. However, that would have to wait. Right then, Quinn couldn't think of anything except Rachel's lips, tongue, and hands moving in all different directions causing millions of different sensations Quinn had never felt before.

As she lay there between Quinn's legs, something in her mind was screaming to stop. To remember that she was dating Finn now and that Quinn was a girl. A girl that could tank her Broadway career before it even started. But something in the rest of her body was telling her that Quinn was the only thing in the world she would ever need again.

"Rach," Quinn finally managed to scratch out.

Her name coming through the air caused her to stop kissing around the base of Quinn's neck and look down at the blonde, her hair all falling down the left side.

Quinn brought her hands up to Rachel's face and gently pulled her down for a tender, sweet kiss that sent Rachel reeling. When she pulled away, Quinn stroked Rachel's cheek with her thumb. "I think at this point I'll be whatever you want me to be. I'll be your girlfriend. I'll be your mistress. I'll be your best friend. But I need to know so I can maybe save myself from a little more heartache."

Rachel looked over Quinn's face. With her hair splayed out across the pillow creating a halo, Quinn looked like the epitome of an angel. She was beautiful and flawless. Her green eyes were searching for something in her own brown ones. "I-I want to…but I think…I don't think I can have a open relationship with you."

Quinn was momentarily paralyzed with disappointment, but she managed to push it back and lay a coy smile on her face, "Does that mean we can have a secret relationship?"

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Rachel asked, completely concerned, "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't think I can be hurt anymore than I already am," Quinn answered honestly with shimmering eyes. "But hurt I can deal with. I can't handle not being able to touch you."

Rachel looked deep into Quinn's eyes and knew that she wouldn't be able to never touch Quinn like this again. She bent down and captured Quinn's lips, sealing their agreement with a kiss.

When Santana woke up she trudged into the kitchen to find her mother and her girlfriend standing at the stove making breakfast. Her mother was directing Brittany on how to tell when the pancakes were done.

This surprised Santana out of her usual morning stupor. She pulled a chair out at the table and plopped down in it. Neither person at the stove noticed her until her dad walked in and smiled, "Good morning Santy."

Santana cringed at her childhood nickname. "Morning," Santana mumbled.

Her mom and Brittany turned around, smiling at Santana's drowsy condition. "Good morning mija," her mom grinned.

Santana looked at Brittany and raised an eyebrow with a slight smile asking the silent question. "Rachel and her dad kinda got into a fight this morning that woke me up early. I don't know what it was about, but Rachel's grounded for the weekend. She was grouchy this morning, like she didn't get a lot of sleep so I thought I'd come over here."

Santana's mom put her hand on Brittany's shoulder, "We're glad you came over. And thank you for helping with breakfast. If you'll have a seat at the table we can all eat."

Brittany sat down next to Santana who smiled at her. It wasn't usual that Santana smiled at anyone before she got to school so Brittany beamed back.

After a happy family breakfast, Santana's dad did the dishes while her mom sat in the living room with Brittany, while Santana got ready. Santana hurried her usual process of getting ready because she didn't want her mom asking Brittany anything that would lead the blonde to know they were going to do something special this weekend.

When she came back toward the living room, her mom was asking Brittany about her plans after high school. Brittany paused for a moment before answering, "I want to dance."

"Where do you want to do that?" her mom asked with a smile.

Santana paused in the hallway to listen to Brittany's answer before walking into her best friend's view.

"Um," Santana could picture Brittany biting her lip as she answered and smiled. "Wherever Santana goes."

Santana stepped into the living room with a giant smile on her face. She wanted to tackle Brittany onto the couch and have her way with the blonde for the answer that made her day. Unfortunately her mom was still sitting there.

"Ready B?" Santana asked, grabbing her backpack off of the floor by the couch.

Brittany stood up and nodded.

"Oh Santana," her mom stood up and reached into her purse. She handed her something Brittany couldn't see then added, "Call me when you get there."

"I will," Santana grinned and hugged her mom, "Thanks."

Brittany looked questioningly at Santana who just smiled and linked their pinkies, "Let's go. We're going to be late."


	21. Chapter 21

"No clues?" Brittany whined at lunch when she finally got to talk to Santana.

Santana smirked, "Mmm…we went there in sixth grade."

"Sixth grade?" Brittany asked, trying to remember back that far.

Santana nodded. She wasn't going to add that it's where they met for the very first time triggering the greatest friendship/relationship Lima, Ohio had ever seen. She just handed Brittany the milkshake she bought for her and smiled.

Brittany took it, a thoughtful look still on her face. She sipped from the straw and was about to ask another question when Becky walked up and started talking to her.

Santana zoned out, mentally going through all the things she had packed into the trunk of her car the night before. After deciding she didn't forget anything, Santana stood up. She needed to get one last thing from her locker to her car and now may be the only time she had to go to her locker without Brittany hanging around.

"I'll be right back," Santana smiled to the two blonde Cheerios before taking off.

As she meandered to her locker, she paused when she saw people in the choir room. It wasn't unusual, but the two people that were in the room intrigued Santana. She ducked down a little so that she could see though the window, but not be seen by Rachel and Quinn.

They were sitting behind the piano while Rachel had her fingers on the keys and Quinn watched. After a few seconds, Quinn leaned forward and kissed Rachel's neck. Santana's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. Then Rachel withdrew her hands from the piano and wrapped them around Quinn trapping the blonde in a quick, but sweet kiss.

Santana stood up and opened the door as loudly as she could. The two girls jumped away from each other before their eyes settled on her. She smirked at them, "You are so lucky I'm the one that caught you two."

Rachel sent a panicked look at Quinn. The blonde looked at Santana and evenly asked, "What do you want?"

"I want to know what's going on," Santana stated, closing the door behind her. "When did it start? How did it happen? Brittany is going to freak out that you didn't tell her."

"We haven't told anyone," Rachel answered quietly as if there were people in the room she didn't want to hear. "It happened last night."

Santana smirked at Quinn, "Well it took you long enough."

"I know," Quinn let out a small smile.

Rachel looked at her quizzically, "What is she talking about?"

"Santana had us figured out a long time ago," Quinn shrugged and scooted closer to Rachel now that Santana was blocking the window, "And she tried to help me finally kiss you."

"Are you going to tell your dads?" Santana asked, looking at Rachel.

The singer vigorously shook her head, "No. I'm not ready for that yet."

"What about Finn?" Santana tilted her head to the side. She was almost positive she knew the answer.

Rachel sighed, "I'm going to break up with him after school. I don't want to tell him why…I just…can't cheat on him."

The Cheerio suddenly felt like an ass for stringing Puck along for so long, but it did all seem to work out for the best. He turned out to be a really great friend, especially to Brittany. Although Santana would probably always be suspicious of his true intentions with her girlfriend.

"Well," Santana looked at the clock, "I gotta go. Try to be a little more discrete if you want to keep this a secret."

"Thanks for the warning," Quinn answered a little snarkily.

"Where are you taking Brittany after school?" Rachel asked before Santana could leave, "Daddy said she wasn't going to be home all weekend."

"It's a surprise," Santana grinned, "But I'll text you on the way back." She started to leave but ducked back in for a second, "No sex on Brittany's bed." With that she left the two girls in the choir room.

It was hard for Rachel to be discrete around people with Quinn. She loved being able to touch her or just put her hand on the blonde's arm whenever she felt the need, which was starting to be all the time. When people were around she almost had to sit on her hands to keep from doing what she loved.

It was just the same for Quinn. Plus, every time Rachel sang Quinn had to look like she didn't just melt into a puddle in her seat. Even if Rachel was just humming while she did the math assignment, Quinn would get a big stupid smile on her face that she tried her damnedest to hold in.

"Where are we going?" Brittany asked again, as she and Santana sat in their study hall.

Santana smirked, "Somewhere fun. Don't worry about it. I already packed your stuff and my stuff. Rachel's dads and my parents know where you'll be going. You'll love it. I promise."

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows. She loved surprises, but not surprises that she knew were surprises, but couldn't know what they were. So she sighed and resigned herself to her Spanish homework.

"Hey," Finn smiled and slid into the chair next to Rachel in their Spanish class.

Rachel eyed him and glanced over at Quinn who was on her other side, "Um, hey."

"So I was wondering if you could come over this afternoon," he asked sort of nervously, "It's, uh, my dad's birthday. Err…well it was. My mom's going out with Kurt's dad and Kurt is going over to Mercedes' house. I just…don't really want to be alone."

Rachel could feel the heat coming off of Quinn because the blonde seemed to sense the words that were about to come out of Rachel's mouth. The singer sighed, knowing that she couldn't dump Finn right then and that Quinn would undoubtedly be mad at her for not doing so before he could guilt her into coming over.

"Of course," Rachel answered, but kept her eyes on her paper. She didn't want to look at either one of the people sitting at her sides.

"Thanks," Finn smiled his stupidly cute smile before returning to his assigned seat.

Rachel slowly moved her eyes over to where Quinn was busy filling out the worksheet that Mr. Schue passed out earlier. She whispered, "Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?" Quinn asked robotically without any sort of inflection.

"Quinn, Rachel," Mr. Schue called from the front, "No talking."

Rachel frowned. She couldn't tell if the question from Quinn was sarcastic or genuine. She decided that the best way to take it was the worst way, just in case. She whispered quietly, "I-I…you heard him. I can't just break up with him on his dead dad's birthday."

Quinn just shrugged trying to look indifferent, "I didn't say I was mad at you." That time Rachel detected a hint of pain in the blonde's voice.

Rachel covertly took Quinn's hand under the table, "We'll watch a movie or something and I'll be right home. Then we have the whole weekend to ourselves. It'll sever all ties Monday. Please don't be mad at me."

Upon hearing Rachel's last sentence come out laced with desperation, Quinn softened, "Okay, but Monday for sure. And you're all mine this weekend."

Rachel grinned, "I can't wait."

Brittany practically ran to Santana's car to meet her girlfriend for their mystery weekend of fun. Santana was already in the car with the engine running, waiting for the blonde. When Brittany opened the door, there was a book on her seat. She slowly picked it up and sat down, closing the door and getting buckled before opening it.

"There's your last hint," Santana told Brittany as she pulled out of the school parking lot.

Brittany carefully examined the book in her lap. She had one exactly like it in a box at home. It was a Girl Scout manual. She smiled remembering that Girl Scouts was where she met Santana. Shortly after Santana decided it was a stupid club so they both quit together, Santana having had been a Girl Scout for seven years and Brittany having been one for three months.

Santana book definitely had more wear and tear. Brittany wondered what kind of hint this was. They couldn't be going to Girl Scouts. Santana would never do that again. The blonde slipped through the pages and finally found a picture, tucked carefully in the pages. She slowly reached down and took it, smiling again at the memory it triggered. It was a picture of twelve-year-old Santana and eleven-and-a-half-year-old Brittany sitting in a tent. Santana didn't look happy to be there in the least, but Brittany was grinning from ear to ear. They were sort of leaning together like people did when being photographed, but not like two girls who really knew each other yet. That was the first picture ever taken of the two.

Brittany had the next picture ever taken of them framed in her room. It was after twenty-four hours of camping with Santana and the other girl scouts. That was all the time it took for them to become best friends.

Finally all the circuits connected and a light bulb went off for Brittany. She smiled and turned to Santana, "We're going camping."

Santana just grinned and pulled off the road into the camp ground where they first met.


	22. Chapter 22

Quinn made her way to Rachel's house after school, hoping that Rachel wouldn't be long. Since Brittany and Santana took off for their super secret romantic weekend, she would definitely be the lone female in the house.

Just as she was walking up the front steps, the front door opened. Rachel's dad stood there with a bag of garbage in his hand. He smiled at her, "Hey Quinn."

She smiled back a little nervous. She was now along with her sort of girlfriend's dads. Although they didn't actually know that, it still made on edge. She never did well parents, even her own. Her relationship with her mom was starting to morph into something from a sappy Lifetime movie, but before she'd had no luck with parents. Finn's mom looked at her with pity and disappointment. Puck's mom openly hated her. Santana's parents were so nice she wasn't exactly sure how to act around them.

And Rachel's dads were starting to feel like her dads. She was there most of the time and they made sure she did her homework and ate well.

She was so in her head that she didn't notice Mr. Barry take the garbage to the can and make his way back.

"It was my secretary's birthday at work and she practically forced me to take the leftover cake home," he smiled at her, resting his hand on her shoulder, guiding her inside, "Would you like some?"

Quinn thought it over and nodded, "I guess I could have some while I wait."

"Fantastic," he walked with her in the kitchen. He took a plate out of the cabinet and then walked to the cake container, "We have to finish this before her highness gets home because it's not vegan and she won't be happy that I accidentally bought a regular cake this morning." He cut Quinn a healthy slice, "In my defense I was running late because she stole my blow-dryer."

Quinn giggled and accepted the cake with a smile.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked, sweeping the crumbs off of the counter.

"Do you have any soy milk?"

He laughed and shook his head, "Oh lord she's gotten to you too." He went to the refrigerator and pulled out the carton.

Once Quinn had finished her cake and milk, Rachel's dad cleaned up the dishes. "So where is our resident diva off to today?"

Quinn suddenly panicked, "She, um…where did she say she was going?"

The older man smiled understandingly, "I believe she said she'd be at Finn's house."

"Oh yeah well that's where she is," Quinn nodded.

"I'm going to go change out of my work clothes and call my better half to see when he'll be home, but we're just going to catch up on all the shows taking up space on the DVR and order dinner. You're very welcome to stay with us. Maybe we can talk Rachel's daddy into a game of Trivial Pursuit."

"That sounds fun," Quinn nodded, knowing that it would be a lot more fun to hang out here with Rachel's dads than to go up to Rachel's room and watch TV until she got back.

It took them a ridiculous amount of time to set up the tent that Santana's brother had told her was simple. However when it was up and they were settled in Santana grinned at her girlfriend and pulled her into a hug.

They stayed like that for at least five minutes just enjoying the simple embrace; enjoying that they could do it whenever they wanted to out here and no one would judge them for it.

"I gotta call my mom, but after that we can do whatever you want okay?" Santana whispered in Brittany's ear.

The blonde nodded and pulled away with a huge smile on her face, "Okay."

Halfway into Yentl and two boxes of Tai food later, Quinn's cell phone rang. She hoped it was Rachel when she pulled it out of her pocket. However her hopes were dashed when she saw her mom's number on the screen.

She stepped into the kitchen to not disturb the two men cuddled on the couch, engrossed in Barbara Streisand's plight. She pressed the green button on her phone and answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Quinny," her mom said into the phone. Her voice was a forced happiness Quinn had been hearing from her mom a lot lately. Quinn chalked it up to her mom starting to get lonely. "What are you up to?"

"Just watching a movie at Rachel's," Quinn replied.

"Oh," her mom's voice deflated, "Any idea when you'll be home?"

"Um, we were going to play Trivial Pursuit after the movie was over," Quinn answered, looking at the clock, wondering where the hell Rachel was.

"Oh okay," her mom answered, "Well, call me when you're on the way home."

"I will," Quinn kicked at the floor as Rachel's daddy stepped in the kitchen. "Love you mom."

"I love you too honey," her mom replied, "Have fun. Bye."

Quinn hung up and looked up at Rachel's daddy, "I think I'm gonna go home."

"Is everything okay?" the older man asked, putting his hands on his Armani clad hips.

The blonde nodded, "Yeah, it's just…my mom's getting lonely now. She doesn't really do much."

"Why don't you invite her over?" Rachel's daddy asked, "The more the merrier."

"Are you sure?" Quinn asked.

He smiled and nodded, "Of course. Tell her we have some leftover take out and we're about to break out a key lime pie."

"Thanks," Quinn smiled back and called her mom back. She really didn't want to spend another quiet night alone with her mom especially since she hadn't gotten to see Rachel yet.

Rachel was leaning on the arm of the couch watching a movie that would normally have her sitting in Finn's lap. However, her missing of Quinn outweighed her fear. This was the third movie of the day and Finn had mostly ignored her to watch them all. She didn't even know why she was there half the time.

Finn's mom had called to check on them frequently. Rachel figured she was making sure Finn wasn't really getting someone pregnant. Little did she know that her son had only had sex with one person in his life and Rachel was definitely not her. Rachel and Finn having sex was not in the foreseeable future either.

Rachel wanted to text Quinn to tell her how bored she was or ask Quinn how school went, but Rachel thought that would be rude and she didn't want to hurt Finn's feelings.

Finn finally noticed Rachel when she yawned and stretched, about to fall asleep. He paused the movie and looked at her, "I'm sorry I've been kinda quiet. I just…don't really know what to say. I always feel weird on his birthdays. I-I'm sorry."

Rachel sat up immediately feeling guilty, "It's not your fault. I just…had a long night last night. Do you want to talk about him?"

"I didn't really know him," Finn shrugged his broad shoulders and ran a hand over his hair, "After talking to Kurt I think it's sort of a good thing though."

Rachel nodded, remembering her romanticized reunion she was going to have with her birth mother and the awkward reality that took place. Not knowing was definitely nicer, but there was a strange comfort in knowing.

Brittany leaned into Santana after their late afternoon swim. The water was chilly, but they had more fun than they'd ever had in their lives. She lovingly threaded her fingers through Santana's and rested her head on the brunette's shoulder.

Santana loved it here. Except that she had to stand on a tree stump to get a phone signal and there was nowhere to plug in a hairdryer within fifteen miles, but she loved being able to touch Brittany all the time without worrying who was looking. In fact since they arrived, there was probably only five minute total when they hadn't been touching.

"I love you," she murmured and kissed Brittany.

The blonde beamed and sighed contently. Santana knew she'd never been this happy in her whole life. She loved Brittany completely and finally got to act like it all the time.

"How's school kiddo?" Rachel's dad asked Quinn as they set up the game.

"It's okay," Quinn picked up some empty white boxes to throw away, "Boring. Except for glee."

"Have you told your mom about career day?" he asked.

The blonde shook her head, "No. My mom doesn't really have a job right now and I didn't think I'd remind her of that."

He nodded, "You're a sweet girl Quinn."

She laughed nervously wondering how sweet he'd think she was if he knew what she and Rachel did the night before. She dumped the containers in the trash and was about to go help with the game when she heard a knock on the front door.

"I got it," she called over her shoulder and walked to the door. When she opened it, her mother stood there with a bottle of wine in hand.

"Hi honey," her mom smiled.

Quinn smiled back and ushered her mom inside. She checked her phone again to see if she got anything from Rachel. When there was nothing, she started to get a little annoyed, but she swallowed it and tried to forget so she could have fun with her mom and Rachel's dads.


	23. Chapter 23

"That's a lot of stars," Brittany mentioned as she and Santana lay in their tent with the rain fly off. They could see the entire expanse of sky through the mesh that kept the bugs out.

"Mhmm," Santana snuggled into Brittany.

"No, I can't ask you this one," Quinn frowned at Rachel's daddy. "It's too easy."

"Too bad," he grinned, "It came off the top of the deck and you have to ask."

The blonde girl huffed, "No, it's too easy."

"C'mon Quinny," her mom smiled at her from across the table, "Read it. I asked you who Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were."

Quinn looked on the board at the last colored pie piece Rachel's daddy needed to finish his piece. Then she looked at hers on the other side of the board that was full. She finally looked at the card and mumbled her question.

"I didn't catch that," Rachel's dad teased.

"How many colors are in a rainbow?" Quinn asked.

"Seven," he answered immediately.

Rachel's dad looked at his husband, "That was fast."

He just shrugged with a smile and slid the pie piece into the wheel. He eyed Quinn, "Looks like it'll be a race to the middle."

The reason that Quinn was such an effective Cheerio captain was because she didn't like to lose. She downright hated to lose. After the soul crushing loss at Regionals, Quinn sulked for days, plotting her revenge, planning how to win, and practicing her vocals until she couldn't talk for a week. She may have been brought down a couple notches by her pregnancy, but Quinn Fabray hated losing.

"You're going down," Quinn looked him dead in the eye with a sinister smirk on her face.

He just smiled his fatherly smile back at her then rolled the dice. Luckily for Quinn he came up two spaces short of the middle and missed a sports question.

"More wine Judy?" Rachel's daddy asked, standing from the table to take an empty popcorn bowl to the kitchen.

She smiled up at him, "You know I better not. I have to make it home sometime tonight."

Just as he made his way into the kitchen, the house phone rang. He immediately picked it up and his husband and Quinn were silent because they wanted to hear what was being said; Quinn mostly because she wanted to know where the hell Rachel was.

His greeting was quiet, but he walked back into the dining room with the key lime pie, "Oh she's camping with Santana this weekend," he paused to laugh, "I know I was surprised too…alright I'll talk to you later. Bye." He hung up the phone, "Who wants pie?"

"Was that Brittany's father?" Rachel's dad asked from the table.

His husband nodded, "He was just letting us know that he'd be back in town Tuesday for a week."

Quinn sensed that Rachel's dad wasn't happy about that, but he tried to hide it by taking a drink and not commenting further.

After the pie was passed out, Judy commented, "This pie is delicious. Did you make it?"

Rachel's daddy laughed, "No. I can't cook to save my life."

Quinn was about to add something when they all heard the front door open. The blonde was trying to decide if she was angry or excited when she saw Rachel step into the room. Her usual smile was on her face and when she saw Quinn it faltered a bit.

"Hey honey," her dad stood up and hugged her, "How's Finn? Does he need anything?"

Rachel shook her head, "He's okay. He's just not having a good day."

When her dad let go of her, Rachel saw Quinn's mom and froze. Rachel wanted to run up stairs and hide under the covers, but instead she took a deep breath and smiled at her, "Hello, Ms. Fabray."

"Hello Rachel," Judy smiled back.

Quinn could see Rachel growing more uncomfortable by the second so she quickly rolled the dice and smiled when she got the exact number she needed to get her pie in the middle.

Rachel's daddy tapped his chin, "I think we'll have to ask the young Quinn a sports question."

The blonde internally cursed him for trying to make her lose. She did not want to lose.

"What became America's first organized sport in 1664?" he asked.

A wicked grin grew on Quinn's face. "Horse racing."

Rachel's daddy dropped the card and sighed in defeat.

"I won," Quinn announced to everyone in the house. Then she turned to Rachel, "Wanna go upstairs?"

"Definitely," Rachel nodded.

They both trotted up the stairs and into Rachel's room. Quinn made herself comfortable on the bed while Rachel closed the door. As soon as the bolt clicked, Rachel started talking, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to stay so late. It was just that Finn as so sad and we were watching some heinous movies so I fell asleep. I really meant to be home five hours ago."

"It's okay," Quinn shrugged, trying to remain indifferent, "I had fun with your dads."

Rachel sensed the struggle going on inside Quinn, but chose to ignore it since Quinn was, "And your mom."

"I know isn't it weird?" the blonde asked rolling onto her side to face Rachel.

The songstress nodded, "She's the last person I'd expect here."

"You know who the last person I'd ever expect to see camping?" Quinn looked up at Rachel as the other girl ran her fingers through her hair.

"Who?" Rachel smiled, loving the feel of Quinn's hair between her fingers.

"Santana," Quinn replied, "She took Brittany on a romantic weekend away in the woods."

Rachel leaned down and kissed Quinn's cheek, "Was that a hint?

The blonde chuckled, "No. I'm just pointing out that you owe me five hours of Rachel-time."

"Well I am all yours the rest of the weekend," Rachel moved in and captured Quinn's lips with her own.

The next morning, Santana and Brittany woke up and after a light breakfast and took a hike down the rocky trails the campground had to offer. At the top of the highest hill, they took a break and looked out over at the wide expanse of trees and hills.

"Do it," Brittany grinned and nudged Santana.

The head Cheerio raised an eyebrow. What Brittany wanted her to do would make her feel self-conscious even though there was no one around. But the grin on the blonde's face was enough to give her the courage. She climbed up on a boulder that was at the top of the hill and laughed at herself before calling out to the empty valley, "I love Brittany!"

Brittany squealed with delight and jumped up on the boulder as well to give Santana a hug and kiss. Santana laughed because she knew it was worth it just to see Brittany light up. Then she leaned into Brittany and added, "You're turn."

The blonde didn't hesitate at all. She yelled out to the trees, "I love Santana!"

When Rachel came downstairs in the morning, she saw a bag sitting by the door. Then her dad stepped out in athletic shorts and a sleeveless shirt with his running shoes on. "Going for a run?"

He shook his head, "We're going hiking."

"We?" Rachel asked, wide-eyed.

He nodded, "Quinn suggested we go check on Brittany and Santana since their phones don't really work out there and I think it would do us some good to go for a hike. Your daddy is as work so it's just you and me. Go get dressed."

"Quinn did this?" Rachel asked with a quirked eyebrow.

On the way to the campground, Rachel watched Quinn's house come into view. The blonde was sitting on the front steps with a scowl on her face. Rachel convinced her dad to ask Quinn's mom if she wanted to go for a hike. Judy told them that it would be good for Quinn and asked them to come pick her up.

The blonde sank into the backseat and eyed Rachel, "Which one of you did this?"

Rachel and her dad both pointed to each other.

"In all fairness," Rachel turned around to look at Quinn in the backseat, "This is all your fault."

_ Quinn couldn't keep the frown on her face and smiled when Rachel smiled at her. She rolled her eyes and finally let out a laugh. _


	24. Chapter 24

"There's Santana's car," Rachel pointed to the car parked next to a tent. It was the only sign of people around the campground.

Her dad pulled to a stop next to Santana's car and shut it off. They all got and out looked around. They didn't hear any sign of Brittany or Santana.

"Maybe they went for a hike," Quinn suggested looking around. She walked over to the tent and shook it a little bit just in case they were still asleep. When they weren't there, she unzipped it a tiny but and saw clothes all over the inside, "It's definitely their tent."

"Well, let's go for a hike and maybe we'll run into them when we get back," Rachel's dad suggested, looking around the campsite.

A few minutes later, Quinn was panting behind Rachel and her dad. "You know…if I would have known you two wanted to hike twelve miles…I would have faked the flu or something."

Rachel and her dad laughed and started to slow down, waiting for Quinn to catch up. Once Quinn got close enough Rachel took her hand and heaved her forward until she had completely caught up with them.

Quinn smiled at her and gently squeezed Rachel's hand before letting it go.

As they finally made it on top of the second hill, they heard laughing. Quinn smiled an immediately recognized it as Brittany.

"There they are," Rachel pointed a few yards away. Down the trail a little and over a drop off there was a river that ran along side the trail. She could see Brittany and Santana splashing and playing in the water.

When Rachel, her dad, and Quinn got over to the bank of the river. They saw that the water was crystal clear. Santana was standing in waist deep water while Brittany was a few years away up to her neck. There was a smile on Santana's face bigger than Quinn had ever seen before.

The trio was only on the bank for a few seconds before Santana spotted them. She said something to Brittany who turned to look at them. Then they exchanged a few words and raced over to the bank.

"Hey," Brittany beamed and gracefully pulled herself out of the water, "What are you guys doing here?"

"We just came for a little hike," Rachel's dad answered. He hugged Brittany even though when she pulled away his front was soaking wet.

Santana held her arms out for Quinn who ducked behind Rachel, "C'mon Q. You didn't miss me?"

"Not that much," Quinn shook her head with a playful smile on her face.

"So how has your weekend gone?" Rachel's dad asked as they all started walking back to the tent.

Santana takes Brittany's hand and swung it between them in an unusually open display of PDA. The blonde smiles at her and if possible her smile grew wider. Santana finally looked away from the blonde to answer, "It's been amazing. It's like…really cool that we can just be ourselves out here."

"Thinking of moving?" Quinn joked.

Santana just smiled. Something about her extreme happiness was starting to unnerve Quinn. Although they'd been friends for years, she'd never seen Santana that happy.

Rachel's dad smiling knowingly, "It's nice to get a break from reality."

When they got back to the camp, Santana and Brittany cooked the trio some veggie burgers that they brought and they all sat around happily eating.

"Well," Rachel's dad stood up and pulled the keys out of his pocket. "It's about time for me to head out."

"You mean us?" Rachel added, standing. Quinn stood up with her.

Her dad used the remote to his car to pop the trunk. He pulled out two sleeping bags, a duffle bag, and a bag that looked dangerously like a tent bag. He smiled as it finally dawned on his daughter what was going on. The look on Rachel's face was one of utter disbelief.

"What's going on?" Quinn looked from Rachel to her dad, who had closed the trunk and was getting into the car.

He started the car and rolled down the window, "Happy camping girls. I'll see you all tomorrow when you get home. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm meeting Judy for lunch."

The diva was frozen in place, watching her dad drive away. She'd never been one of those nature lovers. Hell she wasn't even one of those weekend nature lovers. Rachel Berry loved electricity, brick walls and indoor plumbing. And now she was stranded in the woods.

"Did he just say Judy?" Santana asked, breaking the silence, "Like Judy Fabray."

Quinn, who didn't seem as disappointed as Rachel, nodded, "It's weird. She came over to Rachel's house last night and me, my mom, and Rachel's dads played Trivial Pursuit until Rachel got home."

"Rachel got home from where?" Santana quirked an eyebrow.

At the mention of that, Rachel started moving. However, instead of defending herself she walked over to the bags her dad dropped and started to look through them. She still felt bad for what happened last night and she felt ten times worse for the string of texts she'd been receiving and replying to the past hour from Finn. Although she was positive Quinn had no idea about the texts, she still felt really bad.

Rachel and Quinn got their tent set up with some help from Santana and Brittany. Then they looked in the duffle bag and saw that they each had a set of sleeping clothes and some clothes for the next day along with their swimsuits.

"My mom had to be in on this too," Quinn added, "I was wondering why she was doing my laundry for me."

"So," Rachel sat down on the cleanest looking log she could find, "What have you guys been doing for fun?"

Santana shot Brittany and mischievous smile. The blonde giggled and knew that she wasn't supposed to tell Rachel about that part of their weekend.

"Well," Brittany added, "We've been hiking and swimming. We looked at the stars for a long time. Oh and this morning, we just sat by the river." She beamed, "It was nice."

Rachel sighed. None of anything Brittany just listed had anything to do with civilization.

"Oh c'mon Rach," Quinn smiled and walked over to the songstress, "It's not that bad." She picked up Rachel's hand and gently kissed the back of it, "It's just you and me." She paused before adding, "And them, but they already know about us."

Rachel finally let out a grin. It had been a long time since she'd gotten to kiss Quinn. She stood up and captured the blonde's lips with her own.

When they were done, Santana called to them, "We're going back to the river to swim, wanna come?"

Rachel differed to Quinn who nodded. "Let's go."

Quinn and Rachel took turns changing into their tent before following Brittany and Santana down the trail to go swimming.

On top of Rachel and Quinn's bag, Rachel's phone buzzed with the reception of a new text message. On the front of the screen one word flashed across the front. Finn.

* * *

Okay, quick question. There was this really awesome Britana story I read a long time ago. I'm pretty sure it was on this site. I've looked for it, but I may be missing it. It was really angsty and they had a kid together. Santana took care of it all the time and Brittany was never around and kept leaving. It was wonderfully written. I just wish I could find it again to favorite it. If anyone can tell me what is was or where to find it, I'd greatly appreaciate it. Thanks.


	25. Chapter 25

"You're not mad that they're here?" Brittany asked Santana quietly while they sat on the bank watching Rachel and Quinn play in the water, "Because I thought of what you told me about how they were keeping themselves a secret and…I know what that's like and I thought they'd have fun out where with no one around, but us."

Santana couldn't help, but smile at the explanation. Brittany had always been thoughtful like that. She wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist and held her close, "No I'm not mad."

Brittany let out an audible sigh, "Good."

"Do you think your dad would have abandoned us here if he knew what I'm doing to you right now?" Quinn asked with a devious twinkle in her eyes as she bent down to lay claim to Rachel's lips.

Rachel didn't answer. She just ran her hands up Quinn's sides as the cool, knee-deep water ran between them.

The rest of the weekend ended too fast for any of the girls' liking. They slowly packed up Sunday afternoon and piled into Santana's car to head back. First Santana dropped off Brittany and Rachel then Quinn.

She drove home with a smile on her face, knowing that her relationship with Brittany had never been more solid. However all the bonding did not include sleeping, so she was ready to go to bed as soon as she got home.

When she walked into her house, she let out a tired smile to her mom who was sitting in the kitchen.

"Did you have fun?" her mom asked with a sweet smile.

Santana walked into the kitchen and leaned on the counter, "Yeah I did. I think Brittany really got to forget everything and have a good time."

"That's good," her mom reached out and pulled Santana into a one armed hug, "We have some great news and some okay news."

"Okay news first," Santana walked to the refrigerator and got out some water.

"I can't make it to your career day tomorrow," she explained, "However, your father cleared his schedule and he's going to take you out to lunch afterwards."

"Cool," Santana nodded, not really remembering that last time she had some good father/daughter time.

"And-"

Her dad walking in interrupted her mom. He had a huge smile on his face and dropped a stack of papers in front of his wife, "We got it."

"Got what?" Santana asked.

"That was the great news," Santana's mom said, "We're moving."

A sudden panic took over Santana. She didn't want to move far. Ten years ago she could have given her right foot to move out of Lima, but now she couldn't stand the thought. "To where?"

"Across town," her mom answered.

"Like across town Belgrade or Oak Ridge?" Santana asked. Both neighborhoods were across town and were well know. One was known as a place where the town's elite lived, where Santana had dreamed of living since she was in kindergarten. Belgrade would complete her high school fairytale. Head Cheerio, super hot, all the guys want her, dating the love of her life and lived in Belgrade. Oak Ridge on the other hand was the lower-middle class area of town where the girls from Jane Adams Academy were from. Although Santana was sure that she would never have to transfer schools and even if she did she would rule the school as HBIC, she couldn't leave Brittany.

"It's not necessarily in Belgrade, but it's right down the street from the Fabrays," her dad explained.

"How big is it?" Santana thought it over before getting excited.

"Five bedrooms," he pushed a printed out picture to her, "That's it and since your brother is heading off to college next semester, you get first choice in rooms."

"Yes!" Santana jumped into her dad's arms, "This is awesome." Not only was she moving to her dream area, she was a lot closer to Brittany.

Brittany sat in the living room on the floor in front of the coffee table doing her homework with her headphones in her ears. Rachel sat across the table from her listening to her own iPod.

Rachel's dads were in the kitchen cleaning up the mess from dinner, quietly whispering to themselves.

"I'm just saying, I wouldn't let my daughter live alone in an entirely different country than me. I would move to where she was."

"I know you would honey."

"It's ridiculous. No job is more important than her."

"I know."

"Brittany deserves a lot better."

"I know."

"What are we going to do about it?"

Rachel's dad sighed and hugged his husband, "We're doing all we can do right now. All we can do is get her what she needs."

"I want to have a talk with her dad when he gets here Wednesday."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"I don't know."

"Let's go to bed. We can talk about it in the morning."

Rachel's daddy sighed and nodded, "You're right."

They said goodnight to Brittany and Rachel on their way up the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Brittany asked, looking over at Rachel's open notebook. It looked a lot more like a list than her homework.

"I'm making a CD of all the songs that remind me of Quinn," Rachel explained and looked over the really long list, "I think it's going to end up being more than one CD."

Brittany grinned, "Are you two going to be a couple at school too?"

Rachel's face saddened, "I don't think so. I think it would be hard for Finn to do it so soon and as mean as Quinn is sometimes, she's not nearly as intimidating anymore as Santana is. We haven't really talked about it, but I think it's safer if we don't."

"Well," Brittany looked thoughtful, "You should probably have something to think about so no one thinks you're with Quinn. Like when you think she does something cute, instead of smiling you could think of something that makes you sad or something. When me and Santana were hiding, I used to think of my math homework a lot."

Rachel frowned. She never really thought about all the intricacies of hiding her relationship with Quinn. She looked at Brittany, "Is their anything else you worried about?"

"Um…we used to pretend to date other guys," Brittany shrugged. "We'd go to parties and wait until guys passed out and woke them up to tell them we were leaving. They thought we had sex with them. And we've been holding pinkies since sixth grade, but we could only do it three times a day…and…"

Rachel zoned out of the conversation. It was going to be really hard to hide her relationship with Quinn. A lot harder than she thought.


	26. Chapter 26

"Is there anything else that you did when you and Santana were hiding?" Rachel asked one morning over breakfast. The little seed Brittany unwittingly planted last night had been growing and festering all night.

"Um…If you write Quinn's name all the time you have to come up with another word that's kinda like her name to tell people so they don't think you're writing her name," Brittany shrugged, "During Freshman year in Biology everyone thought I was in love with Santa… or Satan."

Rachel sighed, picking at her food.

"C'mon girls," Rachel's dad called, "We're going to be late to career day."

"Okay," Mr. Schue stood at the front of his Spanish class, "Since Principle Figgins, with the help of Coach Sylvester decided that although a foreign language is required, this one wasn't as important as all the other ones, the career day presentations will take place in my class." He finally smiled at the class, "So, please welcome our career days parents."

"Um, hi. I'm Burt Hummel, Kurt's dad. And I own Hummel's Auto Repair."

"I'm Mark Lopez and I'm a doctor in the emergency room in Lima Memorial. I'm Santana's dad."

"Hello, I'm Carol Hudson and I'm an office administrator at Patterson, Anderson, and Davis downtown. Finn's my son."

"Hey everyone. I'm Kevin Jones, father of Mercedes Jones and I'm a dentist. I practice in an office I share with Carl Howell."

"Hey guys. I'm Brittany's dad for the day. My name is Trevor Berry and I'm a project manager."

"My name is Susan Cohen-Chang. I'm an optometrist."

"I'm Mike Abrams. Uh, I'm a contractor and I'm Artie's dad."

"Today I'm Quinn's surrogate parent. My name is Stephen Berry and I'm an attorney."

Rachel stared hard at her desk. She was trying hard to not look at Quinn who was a few seats in front of her. She wasn't upset that her dads were filling in for Brittany's absent parents and Quinn's unemployed alimony-collecting mom. She was desperately trying to find a way to keep her relationship with Quinn a secret.

After about an hour long Q&A session, Mr. Schue excused everyone to lunch. Rachel's dads lingered outside the door with all the other parents. Brittany hugged them and thanked them for being her dads for the day and then Quinn took her turn.

"Do you girls want to go to lunch with us?" Trevor, Rachel's dad, asked.

They all agreed.

Santana's dad hugged her and looked down at her, "I'm going to lunch with Rachel's dads, do you want to come with us?"

Santana looked at Brittany who was smiling at her. She nodded to her dad, "Yeah."

Rachel's dads invited all the other parents to come and their parents brought their kids. They all sat along a long table at a nearby restaurant, chatting away.

"Hey numb nuts," Santana glared at Finn who had been looking at Brittany for a long time, "Keep your eyes to yourself."

"S-s-sorry," he stuttered and looked down at the table.

"So," Rachel, eager to break the tension in the group, asked, "How is everyone's History project coming?"

That sparked a discussion of the class, the teacher, and the project that broke the tension. It also got the focus off of the people at the table long enough for Quinn to reach next to her, under the table and take Rachel's hand. She slid her fingers between Rachel's and was rewarded with a content sigh.

They weren't the only ones that had something going on under the table. However, Brittany and Santana's activities were a little less innocent. Santana was struggling to keep a straight face while Brittany lazily trailed her fingers up Santana's thigh and back down. Then she'd run her fingernails back up and then down again.

After lunch, Santana drug Brittany into the Cheerio locker room because they had to 'change uniforms.'

"That man…" Rachel's daddy trailed off, "I could just…"

"Honey," Stephen reached over from the passenger's seat and put a comforting hand on his husband's shoulder, "Don't let him stress you out."

"It's just…" Trevor sighed, "He's not even pretending to pay attention to her anymore. Sure he may love her, but she's not a priority. Brittany needs parents."

"I know," Stephen deflated. He knew the story of how his partner was kicked out and hasn't had any sort of parental figure since that night.

"We're going to have a come to Jesus with that man."

"We're Jewish."

"We're going to have a come to Moses."

Quinn looked over at Rachel as they both lay on Rachel's bed. She had been reading a magazine and Rachel used to be doing her homework, but she had stopped to stare at her bed spread.

"Hey," Quinn gently reached over and rested her hand on Rachel's knee, "What's wrong?"

Rachel's head whipped to look at Quinn. She sighed, "It's nothing."

The blonde scooted closer to Rachel and gathered the diva into her arms, "For such an acting protégée, you are a terrible liar."

Rachel smiled faintly and leaned into Quinn, "My dads have gotten really upset with Brittany's dad."

"He never comes to visit her," Quinn moved some hair out of Rachel's eyes, "He left her alone in a completely different country with people he hardly knows. I'd say that have some good reasons to be upset with him."

Rachel picked up one of Quinn's hands and looked it over and tracing the lines on her palm, "I know. I just…I don't know what they're going to do. Do you think they'll want to adopt Brittany?" She squinted at Quinn's hand, "Your Destiny Line in very pronounced."

"Maybe. I mean they're pretty much her parents already," Quinn shrugged, then looked down at her own hand, "What do you mean?"

"Your Destiny Line predicts hardships and the life fate presents to you," Rachel explained, "Yours is bold. That means your self-confident and are a very social person. And since it curves you have a very special talent. And that," she pointed, "means that you are destined for a long, happy marriage."

Quinn chuckled. "Where'd you learn to read palms? Are you part gypsy?"

Rachel tilted her head up and captured Quinn's lips, "I find it helpful to know a little something about everything."

"You two are the most indiscrete people I've ever seen," Santana's voice cut in the room from the open doorway.

They both jumped away from each other. Quinn glared at Santana, "What do you want?"

"Brittany left her Spanish book in here," Santana sauntered in and pick up the book on the floor by the bed.

"Do you think Brittany would want to be adopted by my dads?" Rachel blurted out, not really thinking of the reaction of the Cheerio.

Santana looked thoughtful for a few seconds before biting her lip. Then she looked at Rachel, "She'd be really upset if her dad did let her be adopted, but since the asshole isn't around anymore…I think it would be better for her. Do they want to?"

"They're really mad at her dad," Rachel shrugged, "I just figured that it would be the next logical step."

Santana started to walk out, but paused at the door, "Don't say anything to her okay? She's just getting okay now. Promise?"

Rachel nodded, "Promise."

Santana nodded and walked out of the room, textbook in hand.

Quinn looked at Rachel and picked up the diva's hand, kissing her knuckles, "You're sweet to think of her like that."

"She's like my sister," Rachel leaned forward and kissed Quinn, "I just want her to be happy."

Santana stood by the door just watching Brittany for a few seconds. Finally Brittany looked up from her work, "What's wrong San?"

Santana shook her head and put on a smile, "Nothing." She dropped the book on the bed and sat down, "Let's get to conjugating these verbs."


	27. Chapter 27

Santana tapped her pen on her desk. The holidays were coming up and Brittany's dad had not even mentioned coming back to town for the next few months. The money the blonde had been receiving was still coming like clockwork, but Santana could still see the disappointment on Brittany's face when she opened the envelope and there wasn't a even a quick not from her dad.

So this Christmas had to be epic. If it was going to be epic, she was going to need help. She took out her phone and sent a mass text.

"Ms. Lopez," a sharp voice called.

Santana's head snapped up and her phone snapped shut.

"If you don't think this lesson is important, maybe you'll think it's more important during detention," her teacher added.

Santana sighed. She didn't have time for this so she pulled the Cheerio card from her deck. The one with Sue Sylvester's face on it, "I have Cheerio's practice."

The teacher looked momentarily frightened and then sighed, "Just…at least pretend to pay attention."

Santana nodded. "Um I have to pee."

"Is there a question in that Ms. Lopez?"

"May I go to the bathroom?" the Cheerio huffed.

The teacher waved her hand at the door, flippantly giving Santana permission to leave. Santana grabbed her phone and walked out the door, not even trying to hide that she took her phone.

As she walked aimlessly down the hallway, texting people back and forth, she heard humming. She looked around and found Rachel Berry walking happily to the choir room.

"Berry," Santana barked, louder than she intended, but it scared Rachel so much that she dropped all of her books.

Santana smirked, but knelt down to help her pick them up.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop doing that," Rachel added to Santana as they stood together.

Santana would have said sorry, but Santana doesn't say sorry. Even to her girlfriend's almost sister. "I wanted to talk to you. You haven't answered any of my texts."

"My phone is off during school hours as yours should be," Rachel stated and started walking into the choir room.

Santana followed her as she rolled her eyes, "Whatever. I'm just saying that the holidays are come and I want to make Brittany's holiday super fuckin' awesome so she forgets that she has shitastic parents."

Rachel set her books down on the piano bench and nodded, "You know I'll help Brittany anyway I can."

"Great," Santana's phone buzzed her in hand. She quickly read over the text and replied, "Are you guys gonna do the Hanukah thing?"

"Of course," Rachel looked around the room as she was on a stage, looking over at her audience.

"What are you doing?" Santana asked, noticing her strange behavior.

Rachel grinned, "I got the urge to sing. So you wanna sing with me?"

"Uh, no," Santana shook her head.

"You know you want to," Rachel smirked and wiggled her eyebrows, "Plus this way we could find a song the glee club could sing to Brittany to kick off her perfect Christmas." Then she thoughtfully tapped her finger on her chin, "Now what was that song she was humming yesterday? Okay yeah…" She slid behind the piano and started to play. She looked at Santana who was just staring at her, "C'mon. For Brittany."

Santana sighed, "That's not fair."

"All's fair in love and war," Rachel grinned and continued to play, starting over so Santana could start singing at the beginning.

"I liked you better when you were scared of me," Santana couldn't suppress a smirk. She knew the song Rachel was playing and knew it was Brittany's favorite Christmas song. It would be nice if they could sing it for Brittany. So she stared to sing:

I don't want a lot for Christmas  
There's just one thing I need  
I don't care about the presents  
Underneath the Christmas tree  
I just want you for my own  
More than you could ever know  
Make my wish come true  
All I want for Christmas is...  
You

Before she could get to the chorus, someone cleared their throat at the door and interrupted. Mr. Schue had an amused look on his face but was trying to seem stern, "Shouldn't you two be in class?"

"I got excused for the rest of the period," Rachel shrugged, "I have a not as to why I can't participate in gym."

"Why's that?" he asked, stepping into the room.

"I don't remember what it is today," Rachel confessed, "It may be a sprained ankle or sore throat." He just gawked at her and she added, "I haven't participated in gym in over three months. I don't do sweat well."

Santana snickered. She'd heard something going on in Rachel's room with Quinn that sounded like they were both sweating.

"What about you?" Mr. Schue looked at Santana with his arms crossed.

"I'm in the bathroom?" Santana more asked than stated. Before he could answer, she added, "Is it okay if Rachel and I sing a song today before we get out for winter break? I think this Christmas is going to be kinda hard on Brittany and I want to start hers off with her being happy."

Mr. Schuester nodded, "Of course, but you still need to go back to class."

The Cheerio nodded, "Okay." She glanced at Rachel, "Thanks."

"No problem," Rachel smiled back.

Even before Santana out the door, she heard Rachel say, "So Mr. Schue I have a few suggestions for rehearsal today…"

Just as she sat down at her desk again the bell rang. Santana grabbed her things and went to her next class, which she had with Brittany and Quinn. It was a blow off class and for the most part they checked in and left for work on Cheerio stuff.

This day was no different. They checked in and the teacher didn't even look up from her game of online Texas Hold 'Em when they walked out. As they walked down the hallway to the Cheerio gym all of their phones simultaneously went off.

"Hanukah party tonight?" Santana quirked an eyebrow.

"Huh," Quinn scrunched her nose, "Rachel didn't tell me she was throwing a Hanukah party."

"It says she's co-hosting it with Puck," Santana added, reading the rest of the text.

Quinn snapped her phone closed and a scowl took place on her face.

Santana looked from Quinn who looked slightly homicidal (not the overtly kill everything in sight homicidal, but the quiet 'I'm going to kill a specific person' kind of homicidal rage) to Brittany who was in her own head. If Santana didn't intimately know every expression Brittany had, she wouldn't have noticed the slight sadness, but she wasn't sure if it was from not knowing about the party beforehand or from this Christmas being the first without her mom and possibly both of her parents.

Santana, being Santana, and not really knowing how to help them both, added, "I think we should work on the Nationals routine. It needed a little tweaking since we lost a few seniors."

Quinn nodded and Brittany just shrugged.

After they practice for about five minutes, they all sat on the bleachers. Quinn did some homework, Brittany stared off into space and Santana was still texting a bunch of people, planning Brittany's perfect Christmas break.

At the end of the day, the glee club convened. Santana and Brittany walked in, hand in hand, but Santana stopped short of the red plastic chairs. Brittany looked questioning at her, but Santana smiled in an assuring way. "Go sit down. I'll be there in a second."

The blonde looked confused, but went to sit down.

Quinn sat next to Brittany and leaned over, whispering to her, "What are they doing?" She eyed Rachel who was standing with Santana.

Brittany shrugged.

Quinn was still trying to be mad at Rachel for not informing her of the party, but the smile playing on Rachel's lips as she stood in front of the group was making it hard.

"Alright guys," Mr. Schue announced after everyone but Rachel and Santana were seated, "Rachel and Santana had prepared a special song in honor of the upcoming winter break. So," he glanced at them, "Take it away."

Brad who is eternally behind the piano started behind the song. Rachel gestured for Santana to take the first verse. Santana stepped up and started singing what she sang before:

I don't want a lot for Christmas  
There's just one thing I need  
I don't care about the presents  
Underneath the Christmas tree  
I just want you for my own  
More than you could ever know  
Make my wish come true  
All I want for Christmas is...  
You

Santana pointed to Brittany as she sang and danced around with Rachel. She walked over to the blonde who was beaming and took her hand, twirling her around out of her chair. It seemed their moves were choreographed although they were just moving to the music.

Rachel smiled at the too, although wistfully because she couldn't do the same with Quinn. She took over the next verse.

I don't want a lot for Christmas  
There's just one thing I need  
I don't care about the presents  
Underneath the Christmas tree  
I don't need to hang my stocking  
There upon the fireplace  
Santa Claus won't make me happy  
With a toy on Christmas day  
I just want you for my own  
More than you could ever know  
Make my wish come true  
All I want for Christmas is you  
You baby

All three of them started singing together as the rest of the glee clubbers stood up to dance around and sing with them. Quinn kept a conscious distance from Rachel, but they looked at each other as they sang, huge smiles on their faces.

_I won't ask for much this Christmas _  
_I don't even wish for snow _  
_I'm just gonna keep on waiting _  
_Underneath the mistletoe _  
_I won't make a list and send it _  
_To the North Pole for Saint Nick _  
_I won't even stay awake to _  
_Hear those magic reindeers click _  
_'Cause I just want you here tonight _  
_Holding on to me so tight _  
_What more can I do _  
_Baby all I want for Christmas is you _  
_Ooh baby _  
_All the lights are shining _  
_So brightly everywhere _  
_And the sound of children's _  
_Laughter fills the air _  
_And everyone is singing _  
_I hear those sleigh bells ringing _  
_Santa won't you bring me the one I really need _  
_Won't you please bring my baby to me... _

_Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas _  
_This is all I'm asking for _  
_I just want to see my baby _  
_Standing right outside my door _  
_Oh I just want you for my own _  
_More than you could ever know _  
_Make my wish come true _  
_Baby all I want for Christmas is... _  
_You_

Just like Santana hoped, Brittany was elated at the use of her favorite Christmas song. They walked out of glee that day to their winter break and what Santana hoped would be the best Christmas ever for Brittany.


	28. Chapter 28

"Why didn't you tell me about the party you and Puck are throwing?" Quinn asked Rachel as she was lounging around and Rachel was getting ready.

"We planned it today in sixth period because he kept talking about how his Nana was disappointed in him because he wasn't going to celebrate Hanukkah with the ritual lighting of a Hanukkah candle," Rachel explained, "I felt bad for him so I offered to help him plan it. He's having an actual party afterwards."

"Your menorah has four candles lit already," Quinn pointed out.

"I know," Rachel shrugged, "You're supposed to pray every night and have a ceremony, but there was a Barbara Streisand marathon on last night and we gave up," Rachel grinned.

The blonde smirked, "So that's why you didn't answer my texts until midnight."

"I had to watch Yentl," Rachel walked out of her closet with a sweater in her hand, "What about this one?"

Quinn opened her mouth and then closed it. "Well…um…it's horrible."

Rachel frowned, "Oh."

"I mean," Quinn sighed and stood from the bed, knowing she should have kept her mouth shut. She spoke the truth. The sweater was horrible, but it was Rachel's and she liked to wear it. "It would be horrible with jeans. You have to wear black tights." A smirk slid onto Quinn's face, "Shows off your legs. You have amazing legs."

Rachel beamed and jumped back into the closet to change, "Thanks Quinn."

The blonde slapped her palm to her forehead and fell back onto the bed. She didn't know how long she was going to be able to keep dodging these bullets. Her mouth always started working before her brain could warm up.

Right before sunset, Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Rachel, Finn, and Mike had all assembled at Puck's house to pretend to be Jewish and make Puck's Nana happy for the promise of a great party afterwards.

Puck's Nana started to perform the ceremony for everyone who were pretending like they knew what was going on. She read from her little book while everyone else followed along on similar books, although they had no idea what the book said.

It only took fifteen minutes, but by the time it was over, Santana was about to kill someone. Finally Puck's Nana went to bed and left all the kids alone.

"You owe me," Santana told Puck as they moved the liquor from his closet to the living room, "That was the most boring thing I've ever experienced."

"I don't understand what happened. Was she speaking Spanish?" Brittany wondered out loud in the kitchen.

An hour after the party started, Quinn started looking for Rachel who she hadn't seen in a while. She finally found the diva sitting on the front porch, looking out over the dark street.

"You okay?" Quinn asked, keeping a safe distance from Rachel.

Her secret girlfriend nodded, "Yeah. I'm just not in much of a party mood."

"What kind of mood are you in?" Quinn asked suggestively.

"Thoughtful," Rachel put her red plastic cup on the stairs next to her.

"That always happens when you drink," Quinn chuckled and leaned on the rail behind Rachel, "What are you thinking about?"

"Christmas," Rachel explain.

"I thought you were Jewish," Quinn pointed out.

"One of my dads is," Rachel offered, "we have Hanukkah then Christmas. Eight days lighting candles followed by one night of copious amounts of presents. My dads usually get carried away and buy me so much I have to give away all the stuff I already have. I'm glad Brittany is going to be here this year."

"I just kinda wish her dad would be here too."

"Me too."

Rachel sighed and hung her head. Quinn finally sat down next to Rachel now that they were alone outside and wrapped her arms around Rachel. "She's gonna be sad but we'll remind her that she has family here and Santana is going to make sure she has a happy Christmas." she kissed Rachel's temple.

Rachel tilted her head up and tentatively brushed her lips with Quinn's.

"San?" Brittany asked while she and Santana were making out on Puck's bed.

Santana didn't pause her methodical kissing of Brittany's jaw and lips, "Hmm?"

"Do you think my dad still loves me?"

Santana sat up straight and looked at the blonde, "Of course B." That was a lie. Santana had given up on Brittany's dad. He hadn't called her in a month.

Brittany looked down at her hands, "Do you think he'd be mad if I wanted Rachel's dads to adopt me?"

Santana's head perked up, "Adopt you?"

"Not like all the way but like that thing with Puck's parents." Brittany explained, her hopeful eyes focused on Santana, like she held all the answered to the questions that plagued Brittany's mind.

Santana nodded, "His mom has custody and his dad has visitation."

"I want that. I want Rachel's dads to have custody of me."

"Are you sure?"

Brittany nodded. "Yeah. They tell me that they love me all the time and take me to do fun things and did you see all those presents under the tree they got me?"

Santana smiled at the way Brittany's face lit up.

"I hope there's room for Santa's presents."

Just like that Santana's face fell. She completely forgot that Brittany still believed in Santa. "Oh- oh yeah."

"What the fuck am I gonna do?" Santana demanded from Quinn and Rachel after barging in on them making out in Rachel's bedroom a few hours later.

"Get her some presents and leave them downstairs after she goes to sleep." Quinn snapped, obviously irritated that Santana interrupted her run to second base.

"I'm spending the night and she is a light sleeper. I can't get up to pee without waking her up." Santana ignored Quinn's mood. She has more pressing things on her mind.

"We'll do it," Rachel volunteered.

Santana's eyes flickered to Quinn who seemed hesitant. However Rachel looked at her with a look that said agree or you won't get to touch me. "Okay."

Santana opened her mouth but closed it again the words she wanted to say not coming out.

"Your welcome," Rachel grinned.

Santana just nodded and left.

"Why are you in such a good mood," Quinn chuckled, "you're nice to Santana, you let Kurt have a solo when you guys were playing Rock Band at the party, and you didn't hit my hand away when I started to try and sneak it under your shirt."

"I didn't have to. You stopped," Rachel challenged.

"Because you usually stop me."

"Then I've trained you well." The shorter girl giggled.

Quinn rolled her eyes at herself. Maybe she had become trained, but she was still Quinn Fabray damn it. So she attacked Rachel where she knew it would count.

"Quinn!" Rachel squealed as she tried to get away from Quinn's tickling fingers.


	29. Chapter 29

Santana, Brittany, Quinn, and Rachel were sitting around in the living room examining the massive pile of presents under the tree.

"Your dads do know there's just two of you right?" Quinn smirked.

"There's three or four of them in here for you," Rachel replied with a smile, "and the one I got for you isn't even in here."

"No way," Quinn's eyes immediately went to the presents, visually scanning them to try and identify hers.

"There's some in here for you too," Rachel told Santana.

Santana smiled. She looked at Brittany who looked far off.

"What's wrong?"

Brittany shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just tired."

"Too tired to go ice skating?" one of Rachel's daddy asked walking into the room.

The girls were set upstairs to get ready to go ice skating.

"When did we get so many kids?" Rachel's daddy joked.

Her dad chuckled, "I don't know, but I love it."

"Me too."

"Okay," Rachel stepped out of her bathroom. She had a headband on with a large green bow on the top that looked like it belonged on a very large present. She was wearing a white sweater with a huge Christmas tree in the middle.

Had it been a year earlier, Quinn would have said something really mean about Rachel's outfit. However it was now, so she just pulled on her letter jacket and kept her mouth shut.

"What do you think Quinn?" Rachel asked.

"I think it looks cold outside," Quinn snapped the front of the jacket closed and looked out the door into the room across the hallway, where Santana and Brittany were walking into the hallway, hand in hand.

"I meant about my outfit," Rachel added.

The blonde nodded, "I know." She knew she'd get in trouble for that so she followed the other two downstairs, "I'm going to get something to drink."

As they were skating around the ring, Santana and Brittany, and Rachel's dads holding hands. Rachel and Quinn were skating together, but not touching as most of the other couples on the ice were.

The shrill ring of three phones went off at once. Quinn, Brittany, and Santana all pulled out their phones and read their new text message.

Santana groaned as they came up behind Rachel and Quinn.

"What?" Rachel asked, feeling a little left out and very curious.

"We have practice on Tuesday because coach is holding cheerio try-outs on Monday because six senior cheerios defected." Quinn explained

"Defected to where?"

"Dallas cowboy cheerleaders." Santana stated.

"So you're having try outs Monday." Brittany smiled and skated backwards in front of Quinn and Rachel

"We're not allowed to go but most of us usually wait in the parking lot to see who made it and who didn't." Quinn said and watched Santana pass them and started to skate fast around the ring. Brittany took off after her.

"How can you tell?" Rachel asked, putting her hands in her pockets.

"The girls who don't make it come out crying. The girls who make it are calling everyone they know and they have their new uniforms on." Quinn's phone went off some more times with new text messages.

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows, "How does she have them made that fast?"

"Coach Sylvester has a very specific idea of who she wants and who we need on the cheerios. We need some flyers. That's for sure." The head Cheerio explained.

Suddenly, a whirl of blonde hair flew past them followed by a brunette one. Quinn felt a tap on her shoulder as they went past and Brittany called behind her, "You're it."

Quinn laughed and took off after Brittany and Santana. Rachel smiled and watched. It's not that her skating skills weren't adequate for a game of ice skating tag. She was just watching because she was thinking.

She saw the guys at the skating ring watching the three girls in their Cheerios letter jackets. Everyone in town knew who the Cheerios were and guys wanted them, that was no secret and Rachel did feel lucky to have Quinn, at least in secret. She looked down at the ice whirl past her skates. She did that a little too long and ran into the wall. Her feet slipped out from behind her and she fell to the ice.

As soon as Quinn saw this, she skated at fast as she could to Rachel, grinding to a stop. She knelt down and helped Rachel up, "Are you okay?"

Rachel nodded, "I just…wasn't paying attention."

Quinn smiled, hoping to elicit one from the shorter girl, "That's kind of important when you're skating somewhere with walls."

Rachel smirked, but rolled her eyes, "Ha ha."

The smile faded from Quinn's face, "What were you thinking so hard about?"

"Nothing important," Rachel forced a smile.

Quinn bought it and jerked her head toward the exit, "Do you wanna go get some hot cocoa?"

"Sounds perfect," Rachel grinned.

Santana and Brittany were completely oblivious to the world around them as they skated around gazing at each other and laughing in the cold night air.

"So," Santana watched Brittany skate backwards in front of her. "What did you ask Santa for?"

"I can't tell you," Brittany grinned.

Santana sighed, "C'mon B. Please?"

"I can't tell you," the blonde giggled, "I already e-mailed him."

"E-mail?"

Brittany nodded like it was obvious and took off skating away from Santana. Santana took off of her. "Brittany!" When she finally caught up she asked, "What's his e-mail?"

"Santa at north pole dot com," Brittany patiently explained.

"Oh," Santana nodded, "Okay."

"Your dad is a great skater," Quinn mentioned as they sat side-by-side sipping on their hot cocoa

"He played hockey forever," Rachel answered, "He went to college with a hockey scholarship."

The blonde leaned into Rachel a little, but no so much that it was noticeable to anyone who was walking by. Rachel could feel it though. She smiled contently and ran a hand through her hair wishing she had the courage to hold Quinn's hand in public.

When they got back to the house, Santana and Quinn decided it was time to head home.

"Are you girls sure you're okay to drive in this weather?" Rachel's dad asked them, "It's starting to snow outside."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Santana smiled at him, "I have to finish decorating my room anyway."

"I'm gonna help my mom decorate some more," Quinn added, "But thanks for asking."

Rachel's dads hugged them both, "Be safe." They both walked inside, leaving the girls to their goodbyes.

When she got home, Santana put her hair up and pulled on some pajamas. She looked at her bedroom which was only half decorated. There were boxes laying around her room. They had been for almost two weeks, but that wasn't what she was concerned with. She immediately went for her laptop and went into Brittany's e-mail. Luckily she had been the one to set it up for the blonde so she didn't have to find out the password. Not that it would have been hard to guess her own name.

Santana clicked on the sent folder and found that on the very top was a message whose recipient was . She smiled when she opened it and found that everything Brittany asked for was easily attainable. Her list was short and for the most part sweet. All she asked for was new headphones, a picture frame for the picture she just got of her, Rachel, and Rachel's dads, and for Santana to be happy.

At the last part of the list, Santana felt herself getting a little emotional. Usually she wasn't surprised by Brittany's sweetness, but this was so ridiculously kind that Santana got a little misty. She wiped her eyes knowing that that was going to be the easier part of the list.


	30. Chapter 30

Quinn and Santana are sitting on the hood of Quinn's car, waiting for the new Cheerios recruits to come out of the school. Brittany had stayed home, citing that she needed to get some Christmas presents ready. Quinn tried to get Rachel to come, but she said she really needed to get some Christmas shopping done.

"Here they come," one of the other Cheerios said.

The first group of girls that walk out are in tears. A much smaller group comes walking out all laughing and giggling to themselves with their new uniforms on. The current Cheerios start buzzing about who is in the new uniforms.

Out of the corner of her eye Quinn sees someone exit the side door and walk toward a waiting car in the teacher's parking lot. The girl had a cheerios uniform on and her hair was up in the standard cheerios ponytail. However the girl hurrying to the waiting car wasn't a standard Cherrio.

Santana saw Quinn stop analyzing the new girls and followed Quinn's gaze. She squinted. In the setting sunlight it looked like..."Is that Brittany's car?" the car started to drive away. Before Santana could move Quinn was already off the hood and starting the car.

"What's going on Q?" Santana slid off the hood and got in.

"Something really weird." Quinn frowned and sped off.

When they arrived at the Berry household, Brittany's car was out front in its usual spot and the house looked quiet.

They both walked in and up the stairs parting ways at the top of the stairs.

Santana knocked on Brittany's closed door. "Brittany," Santana sang.

"Hold on," Brittany called, "I'm still wrapping your present."

"Do you want me to go get come lattes so you can finish?" Santana asked through the door.

There wasn't an immediate response. Instead, the door slowly opened just enough for Brittany to stick her head out. "Whipped cream?"

"Of course," Santana grinned. She kissed Brittany before watching the blonde slip back into her room. Santana laughed and made her way back down the stairs.

When Quinn got to Rachel's room she knocked on the closed door.

"Hold on a sec," Rachel called.

"It's me."

There was some more rustling and then the door opened. Rachel smiled, "Hey."

Quinn smiled back and kissed her in their usual greeting.

She looked Rachel over. She was in sweatpants and a purple v-neck shirt with her hair loosely braided in pigtails. Quinn shook her head. Maybe she was hallucinating before.

"How'd it go?" Quinn asked dropping her keys on Rachel's nightstand.

"I got done early," Rachel grinned going to her closet and closing the door, leaning back on it.

Quinn sat on the bed and laid back. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I thought you and Santana were bonding with the other Cheerios. I didn't want to intrude," Rachel sauntered over to the door and locked it before moving to the bed and straddling Quinn. She leaned down and claimed Quinn's lips.

"Rachel!"

They both sighed. Quinn let out a playful grin, "Your dad always has the worst timing."

Rachel chuckled and scampered out.

Quinn laid on the bed and looked at the closed closet door. She wanted to know what was in there that Rachel was hiding. Quinn wickedly grinned, maybe it was her Christmas present. She silently slid off of the bed and tiptoed over to the closet. She opened the door to find Rachel's closet exactly like it always was. All the sweaters were color coordinated and then sorted by shade and type of fabric.

Quinn bit her lip. She was really hoping that she would get to see Rachel's present for her so that she would have some idea of what to get her. She gave up and stepped out. However, when she turned to close the door, something caught her eye. In the blue section of the closet there was a little red sticking out of the bottom. Quinn took a step into the closet and moved the blue clothes out of the way. What she saw made her quietly gasp.

"Hey Quinn, my dads are going to the store and they want to know-" Rachel stopped short when she saw that Quinn was standing in the closet, holding her brand new Cheerios uniform.

"Did you think I wasn't going to find out? We have practice tomorrow." Quinn asked a tinge of hurt in her voice.

"I thought maybe if I'm a cheerleader you won't be ashamed of me any more. Maybe we can be seen together in public. Maybe we can hold pinkies like Brittany and Santana used to and not have to worry about what people think," Rachel looked down at the floor.

"You know I don't feel like that." Quinn added, putting the uniform up and moving with Rachel to the bed.

Rachel looked up at Quinn, her eyes shimmering with concern and uncertainty, "I do. I know that if this all cones out my dads will still love me and I'm still at the bottom of the social chain at school. I'm not Quinn Fabray. I don't have a pedestal to fall off of."

The blonde's face fell. She knew Rachel was right. She, much like Santana, fiercely fought to get where she was and if her relationship with Rachel became public, everything she worked for would vanish.

"Plus," Rachel folded her hands in her lap, "You guys always have Cheerio stuff to talk about and I…I get kinda left out."

Quinn nodded, "I understand. I figured that out a few times when you'd start humming one of those show tunes while we were talking."

Rachel chuckled, "That was one time and it was from the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers classic Roberta."

The blonde looked at her with a smiled that said 'you're so cute, but so weird'. Rachel read it perfectly and smiled back with a smile that said 'thanks for thinking it's cute'.

Santana and Brittany raced each other back to the front door of the Berry house after a short, but fun jog. They touched the front door within milliseconds of each other and grinned at each other.

"I won," Santana poked Brittany's ribs.

The blonde shrunk away from the touch, "No I did." She turned next to her and got the mail out of the box before opening the front door.

Santana followed her inside, "In your dreams."

Brittany picked out a postcard and placed the rest of the mail on the kitchen counter, "I got something from Schuyler."

Santana's good mood immediately disappeared. She frowned hard, "What does she want?"

"It just says Merry Christmas," Brittany showed Santana the card. On the front it had a picture of downtown Hague.

Just as Santana was about to say something about Schuyler being lucky that she wasn't in the country, Rachel's daddy walked in. "Hey girls. How was your run?"

"Great," Brittany answered.

Santana snuck in, "I won."

"You didn't!" Brittany laughed.

Stephen chuckled and got them both some water. He looked serious for a moment, "I suppose you two heard about Rachel."

"What about her?" Santana asked.

Brittany looked down at the counter and played with her fingernails. Santana picked up on this and asked Brittany, "B, what's going on?"

"Rachel's a Cheerio now," Brittany confessed, "I helped her practice."

Santana wasn't sure why, but she was a little stunned. It shouldn't really matter. Rachel had proven herself to be a good friend and Santana considered her one. "Why?"

Brittany's eyes flickered to Rachel's daddy then to Santana, "She-um-…"

"She felt left out," Quinn answered from the door of the kitchen, "Plus, who doesn't want to be one of the most popular girls in school."

Stephen nodded and looked behind Quinn to make sure Rachel wasn't there. When he saw she wasn't he added, "I've heard horrible things about that coach from other parents and you three. We all know Rachel doesn't handle criticism well and she had a tendency to mouth off when she doesn't get her way. Plus, I've also heard that the girls are really vicious. I'm not going to ask you to protect her, but I'm gonna asked that you three sort of look out for her. You're the best friends she's ever had and…I don't want her to get hurt."

Quinn was the first to answer, "We'll definitely look out for her."

He smiled at her, "Thanks. Now," he looked at Brittany and Santana, "If you two will go get changed," then he looked to Quinn, "And you'll go get the princess, we can go to the mall in a last minute scramble to figure out what the hell to get each other."


	31. Chapter 31

Cheer practice rolled around and as it came closer, Rachel got more nervous. Sure she'd made friends with the new Cheerios the day before, but she had to impress the existing Cheerios and although the head Cheerio and the co-head Cheerio likes her enough, neither one was probable to show it during practice.

"You ready?" Brittany asked from the doorway of Rachel's room. They were both in their Cheerio uniforms already.

Rachel slowly nodded, wishing Quinn was there to tell her not to worry, that it'd be fine. Coach Sylvester expressly stated that Rachel was chosen for her size and not particularly because she had any sort of talent. Rachel picked up her new Cheerios bag and followed Brittany out the door.

"What do Quinn and Santana do in the meeting before practice?" Rachel asked once in Brittany's car.

"They talk about the routines with Couch and set up everything…." Brittany turned on the car and checked her mirrors. She saw a pink sticky note on her rearview mirror. She took it down and read it. When she finished the love note from Santana, she folded it up and put it in the middle console of her car with the rest of them, beaming.

When they walked into the gym, the other Cheerios greeted Brittany with smiles and hugs. They all eyed Rachel, who looked around for Quinn. However the co-head Cheerio wasn't in the gym yet. Brittany had been sucked into the group of existing Cheerios so Rachel found a small group off to the side of new Cheerios and walked to them.

Just as she was becoming comfortable, the entire gym fell into silence. She followed everyone else's eyes and saw why. Santana and Quinn had just walked in, both looking fierce and predatory.

"Oh my god they're so awesome," one of the new girls whispered, "But I heard they're both dating Noah Puckerman."

"Santana's dating Brittany idiot," one of the current Cheerios snarked.

The girl looked at the older cheerleader with wide eyes. "A girl?"

"Another Cheerio dumbass," the Cheerio rolled her eyes, "It's not a big deal. This is the twenty-first century."

Rachel felt a little glimmer of hope. Maybe some time she and Quinn could publicly announce that they were dating.

"Besides," the Cheerio continued, "They're the only ones in the school who could get away with it anyway."

"So Quinn's dating Noah?" the younger girl asked.

The older Cheerio shrugged, "Probably."

Rachel's hopes were dashed with the last statement. Quinn was the co-head Cheerio, the second in command, the one of the hottest, most popular girls in school. She was barely half as scary as Santana, so there was no way they would be able to come out.

"Formation!" Santana barked and the current Cheerios scampered into neat rows. The new Cheerios just stood around looked terrified.

Santana smiled wickedly at them. She walked toward them with her arms fold, surveying the new group. She glanced back at Quinn who was standing with her hands folded behind her back in front of the experienced Cheerios, looking them over.

Quinn's eyes narrowed and she marched over to one of the current Cheerios, who was looking straight ahead, "Marissa, what is our policy regarding ponytails?"

The other girls started to stutter, "I-um-I was running late and-"

"Two laps," Quinn stated evenly, "Then go to the locker room and fix it. You're lucky I saw it before Santana. She would have yanked it out of your head."

Santana heard the remark and grinned wickedly at the new girls. She finally addressed them, "Although you have made it past Coach Sylvester, you have not made it past me. You are _not_ Cheerios until I say so."

Some of the other Cheerios panicked, but Rachel managed to keep her expression neutral. To keep from becoming frightened she pictured Santana in the Christmas sweater and reindeer antlers Brittany made her pose in for a picture. Luckily the head Cheerio pretty much lived at her house during the day and on the weekends, especially now that school was out.

"Put yourselves in rows of four in alphabetical order next to the _real_ Cheerios," Santana ordered and all the new girls frantically tried to figure out who was first.

Rachel rolled her eyes at how long it was taking so she called over everyone, "Anyone start with an A?"

No one said anything.

"B?" she asked.

Still no response. Rachel sighed. Of course she was the first one in the first row. After she instructed everyone else on where to stand, Rachel took her place in the front. When they were all still, Quinn joined Santana in front of them.

Rachel fought to keep a smile off of her face because she could tell Quinn was doing the same. The pride in Quinn's eyes was enough to make Rachel squeal with joy. However, for the moment she had to make a show of looking scared and if there was one thing Rachel Berry knew how to do, it was put on a show.

Santana walked right up to her and stood in front of her. "Since you seem to like to think you're in charge, you're the squad leader Berry. It's on you to keep the newbies in line. If they mess up, it's on you."

Rachel nodded urgently.

"Good," Santana nodded and took a step back. She looked over the group and saw Marissa jog back to the formation and get back in her spot. "Marissa!"

The girl looked terrified that she was being called out.

"Why were you not in formation?"

"Quinn told me to-"

"Who told you?"

"I-um-Co-Captain Quinn," the girl corrected herself.

Santana surveyed the group, loving that she was in charge. "First of all Co-captain Quinn sounds fucking stupid. When addressing her Captain Quinn will do. However, I am still in charge. If any of you forget that, you will regret it." She paused making sure everyone understood. Then she added, "Now let's get to stretching."

After she and Quinn led the stretches, Coach Sylvester came in and split everyone up. Rachel and another girl about her size were sent to the trampoline in the back to work on flyer form with Brittany. Rachel was relieved to be with her housemate and not Santana or ever Quinn who were both yelling at people at different ends of the gym.

"Okay," Brittany smiled, her usual smile, "We're going to work on what you do when we throw you up in the air."

"That's what a flyer is?" the other girl asked, surprised.

Brittany ignored the dumb question and went on, "I totally wish I was shorter so I could be a flyer, but I'm a tumbler and sometimes dancer. Anyway, I'm really good at this stuff on the trampoline so I'm going to show it to you guys." She hopped up on the trampoline and motioned for the other two to follow her, "First I have to teach you how to fall right so if we don't catch you, it won't hurt you bad."

Rachel exhaled as Brittany explained, suddenly not so sure about her decision to become a Cheerio.

Quinn had stopped supervising practice for a moment to watch Rachel. She seemed to take to aerial flips and twists easily. She was glad that Rachel joined. Not only were they going to get to spend a lot of time together, but Rachel also had to wear the Cheerio skirt, which showed off her amazing…

"Fabray," Santana snapped her out of her trance.

Santana raised her eyebrows in a warning. She knew that Quinn and Rachel wanted to stay a secret, but it wasn't going to happen for long if Quinn kept staring at Rachel like that.

After practice, the girls were ushered to the locker room to receive their lockers and work out clothes. Rachel was glad that she made it all the way through the practice and that Santana and Quinn managed to only make two girls cry and one of them quit.

As she was setting up her locker, she saw the blonde co-captain step into view. Everyone else had pretty much shoved their stuff in their locker and left to tell their perilous tale to their family and friends. Rachel however, like to organize her things before she closed her locker.

Quinn looked around to make sure everyone else was out of sight and earshot. She leaned on the locker next to Rachel's and smiled, "How was your first practice?"

"It was…fun," Rachel answered. "At least the part with Brittany. But I have to stay late and clean up the confetti from the cannon for suggesting that we could save paper if we only fired it at competitions instead of every time we rehearse."

Quinn chuckled, "You'll learn not to do that eventually."

"Don't count on it," Rachel smirked and slung her bag over her shoulder before closing her locker. "I'm going to go get started so Brittany doesn't have to wait for me."

"I have to talk to coach and Santana for a few minutes, but I'll be in to help you when I'm done," Quinn offered. She looked around one more time and made sure no one walked up to them before leaning forward and lightly kissing Rachel.

The new Cheerio beamed as Quinn walked off, her ponytail swinging behind her.

It didn't take long to sweep up the confetti because of the hardwood floor, but getting it into the trash bags was an entirely different task in and of itself. She had already decided that she was going to disobey some orders and put it in the recycling bin instead of the dumpster like Coach Sylvester told her to.

The doors opened just as Rachel tied up the third trash bag.

"God Katie is such a windbag. I don't care who Puck slept with last week or that Katrina switched lip glosses," Santana rolled her eyes.

"She's always been like that," Quinn added, "We just forgot because she had laryngitis since Thanksgiving."

"She's almost as bad as JewFro." Santana stated, holding the door open for Brittany.

Brittany was the first one to acknowledge Rachel, "You did so good today." The blonde picked up one of the trash bags to help Rachel out with it.

"Thanks," Rachel smiled back, "I think I'm gonna be sore tomorrow though."

"You definitely will," Quinn picked up the other bag.

After they dumped the confetti in the recycling, they all headed back to the Berry house. Santana whispered something to Brittany as they walked into the house before they both raced upstairs and locked the door to Brittany's room.

"Those two go at it like bunnies," Quinn commented as she and Rachel walked up the stairs.

"Mhmm," Rachel agreed and led the way into the room. She stepped into the closet and changed while Quinn sat on the bed.

When she stepped out in black yoga pants and a purple long sleeved shirt Quinn said, "Boo. I like it better when you were in your uniform."

Rachel chuckled, "I was freezing."

"If you come over here I'll keep you warm," Quinn waggled her eyebrows and held out her arms.

As cheesy as that line was, Rachel padded over to the bed and crawled into Quinn's arms, rested her entire body on top of Quinn's.

After a few moments of silence and Quinn running her fingers through Rachel's hair, the shorter girl asked, "Have you ever had sex with another girl?"

Quinn's fingers freeze for a beat before continuing. "No. Although I've heard Brittany and Santana enough times to know what it sounds like."

Rachel laughed against Quinn's neck and closed her eyes. After a few more seconds of silence, she turns her head so that her chin is resting on Quinn's collarbone and she's looking up at Quinn. "What did you get me for Christmas?"

"I'm not telling you," Quinn smiled.

"Please?" Santana begged in the room across the hall.

Brittany shook her head, "No. It's a surprise."

"If I tell you what I got you will you tell me?"

"No," the blonde laughed. She knew that Santana hated not knowing and she also knew that she could use it to her advantage.

Santana walked over to Brittany and rested her hands on Brittany's hips, "Babe, you know I can't stand not knowing."

Brittany grinned, "If I tell you, what do I get?"

Santana lowered her head and pressed her lips to Brittany's neck, "I'll give you whatever you want."

The blonde grinned, "I know."

* * *

Christmas is coming in the next chapter. It's pretty much done and there's another twist around the corner. Hope you enjoy.


	32. Chapter 32

"I wish I could stay for Christmas Eve with you guys," Quinn sighed, pulling blanket tighter around herself.

Rachel smiled, "I understand why you can't. Brittany will be with Santana until late so me and my dads will watch Miracle On 34th Street and then some musical or something." She swiveled in her computer chair back to the desk and resumed composing her PowerPoint presentation to persuade her dads to let her put a home recording studio in the basement.

"Come to bed," Quinn whined.

The diva saved her presentation and closed her computer. She stood up and walked to the foot of the bed, stopping at the foot just looking at Quinn.

"What?" the blonde asked, not lifting her head from the pillow.

Rachel shook her head, sending ripples through her hair before crawling onto the bed behind Quinn. She wrapped her arms around Quinn and rested her chin on the blonde's shoulder. "You're incredibly beautiful."

Quinn chuckled at the compliment and scooted back into Rachel. "Are you just saying that so I won't be mad at you for ditching me once that studio thing gets put in?"

"I don't think that'll happen," Rachel kissed Quinn's neck with a laugh, "This is my fourth effort to get the studio. Besides, even if I do get it, there's only one person I'd want to sing with me."

"Finn?" Quinn teased.

Rachel buried her face in Quinn's back and groaned. "Never."

"Mike?"

"Why would I want them to sing with me when I have a girlfriend with the voice of an angel?" Rachel asked, sighing contently behind Quinn.

The blonde for her part, soaked up the compliment and threaded her fingers with Rachel's as they rested on her stomach. She turned her head to the side and gently kissed Rachel. "You're sweet for a future Broadway superstar."

Brittany smiled at Santana. She was decked out in an oversized Christmas sweater and black tights. Her boots had bells tied to them. Her hair flowed around her shoulders and a crown of mistletoe sat on her head, topped by a Santa hat.

Ever since they were kids, Santana loved Christmas and each year she went out of her way to make it phenomenal for Brittany. This year she went particularly crazy in her festiveness.

Santana's entire family was gathered in the Lopez household. Her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and some family friends had all convened for a Christmas Eve to remember.

"Are you having fun?" Santana asked Brittany with an especially bright holiday twinkle in her eyes, "Because if not I can get my cousin in here to do his duck calls."

Brittany laughed, "I'm having fun, but do you think we could go outside for a sec?"

Santana nodded and took Brittany's hand, a little concerned about her behavior. She'd been kind of quiet and less interactive than usual.

As they were walking toward the back door, one of Santana's little cousins walked up to them. "When's Brittany gonna wear the mistletoe?"

Both girls laughed because they knew why the little boy wanted Brittany to put it on. Santana picked up the Santa hat on her head and then took off the mistletoe, placing it on Brittany's head.

The little boy grinned, "Can I get a kiss?"

Brittany giggled and leaned down, kissing the little boy on the cheek. As soon as she did he blushed and ran off to tell his other cousins.

Santana heartily laughed and took the mistletoe back, putting it back where it was. She slid her hand back into Brittany's and they continued their journey to the back door.

Once they slipped outside, Brittany walked across the porch and looked out into the dark, starry sky. She rested her forearms on the railing and closed her eyes.

Santana's heart broke, watching Brittany like this. She took a few silent steps toward Brittany and when she got close enough she snaked her arms around Brittany's waist. "Are you okay babe?"

Brittany immediately nodded, "Yeah." Her voice cracked as she spoke and she fought off tears with everything she had.

The head Cheerio sensed the tears even though she couldn't see Brittany's face. She looked past the blonde hair in front of her to the sky Brittany was staring at a few seconds ago, praying for some kind of reassuring words to tell Brittany. But nothing came. She just turned Brittany around in her arms and Brittany broke into sobs.

It took a while for Brittany to calm down, but Santana didn't mind. If anyone was going to be there for Brittany, Santana was determined that it would be her.

"Hey girls," a warm voice called from the door, "What are you doing out here? It's freezing."

Santana looked at her mom and shook her head indicating that this was not a good time. However Brittany had already pulled away and wiped her eyes.

When Santana's mom saw Brittany, she immediately grew concerned. She walked over to the blonde and pulled her into a motherly hug. "You know what? We got you a few presents, but I think we should sneak into Santana's bedroom and let you open one."

"I don't have to," Brittany sniffled, "I can wait. I don't want Santa to get mad at me."

Santana's mom gently squeezed Brittany, "He won't be mad. I promise."

"Well," Brittany perked up a little, "Okay."

The three of them made a pit stop by the Christmas tree before going to Santana's room. They all sat on the bed and Santana's mom handed Brittany the small present. Santana knew what present this was and was a little worried that it might send Brittany into another fit of tears.

The blonde carefully unwrapped the present. She ripped the paper away and found that it was a picture frame. Inside the frame was a picture of Brittany and Santana's family including her brother and parents at Santana's grandparents house. The border of the frame read one simple word that shot tears to Brittany's eyes: Family.

"Thank you," Brittany choked out.

Before Santana could get to her, her mom pulled Brittany into a hug, "You know that we'll always be your family. No matter what."

The blonde nodded against her shoulder. "Thank you."

"We love you mi amor," she smiled and kissed Brittany's forehead. Then she patted her arm and stood up. "I'm going to go back downstairs and make sure nothing is on fire. You two are more than welcome to stay up here or come downstairs, just let me know before you leave."

Santana nodded to her mom and moved to Brittany's side. She looked over her shoulder at the picture and smiled at the memory of the year Brittany went on vacation with them. "We had fun huh?"

"Yeah," Brittany nodded. She set the picture aside and leaned into Santana, "I love you."

"I love you too," Santana kissed Brittany, "No matter what."

Quinn heard the knock on the front door, thankful for the distraction from the extremely uncomfortable silence she and her mother shared. They had done all the Christmasy things they both could think of and they were already done, now silently sitting in the living room.

She opened the front door and the people on the other side caught her by surprise.

"Merry Christmas," Rachel and her dads said together, all holding presents.

"What are you doing here?"

Rachel shrugged, "We're not really used to doing the whole Christmas thing. We're doing it mostly for Brittany and she's not with us right now so we're spreading the joy."

"Who is it Quinny?" Judy walked up behind her and smiled at the Berrys standing in the doorway, "Stephen, Trevor c'min. What are you doing here on Christmas Eve?"

Rachel's dads walked inside and follow Judy to the tree.

"Was this your idea?" Quinn asked, stepping outside with Rachel and closing the door behind her.

Rachel grinned and nodded, "You didn't seem very happy to be going home earlier." She looked at the door behind Quinn, "Why can't we go inside? It's freezing."

Quinn pointed up. "I sort of knew you'd be coming by at some point."

Rachel followed her finger and saw mistletoe hanging from the porch light. When Rachel looked at her Quinn put one of her hands on Rachel's cheek and drew her in for a kiss.

"Merry Christmas," Quinn breathed into the cold night air.

"Merry Christmas," Rachel grinned. "You're still coming over later tonight right?"

Quinn nodded, "As long as you leave the window open."

"It's on the second floor," the shorter girl laughed, "You can come in the front door. Santana's going to be coming over too and my dads are going to end up in bed early if they keep drinking eggnog like that." She pulled the keys out of her pocket, "I'm the designated driver."

"Alright," Quinn kissed Rachel again. When she pulled away the headlights of a car going down the street temporarily blinded her, but when the car was gone and Rachel came back into focus Quinn noticed how pink Rachel's cheeks were and how her eyes sparkled in the Christmas lights on her house. "You are so beautiful."

Rachel looked down and smiled at Quinn's Cheerio letter jacket, "Um, thanks."

Quinn loved how shy Rachel got sometimes and reached into Rachel's pocket and took her hand, "C'mon let's go inside."

The Berrys didn't stay long. They had other stops to make on their city-wide spread of Christmas spirit.

They stopped by the Lopez house and dropped off some presents for Santana's parents, happy to see Brittany laughing and giggling with Santana and her family.

So finally, they all went home and just like she predicted her dads went to bed. So being left alone on Christmas Eve, Rachel took a shower, made sure all the Santa presents were wrapped and made herself some hot cocoa. She sat in the glow of the Christmas tree and a roaring fire while sipping cocoa and listening to the soundtrack from White Christmas.

At around eleven the front door opened and she heard Brittany loudly whispered, "Hurry up San. We have to be in bed before Santa comes."

"I know, I know," Santana replied just as quietly.

They came into view, hand in hand and sneaking toward the stairs.

"Oh hey Rachel," Brittany grinned, "Where's Quinn?"

Rachel shrugged with a wistful smile, "She's probably still at her house. She seemed kinda tired earlier so she may have fallen asleep."

Brittany nodded, "Oh okay. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Rachel echoed. She grinned at Santana who seemed like she'd had way too much eggnog as well, "Merry Christmas Santana."

"Merry Christmas," Santana mumbled without looking at Rachel and followed Brittany up the stairs. Then she reappeared at the bottom of the stairs, "Don't forget that Santa is coming tonight."

"I won't," Rachel replied with a smile.

Santana smiled back, "Thanks Rachel." Before Rachel could answer, she ran up the stairs.

The front door opened and closed again. Then she heard Quinn's voice start singing along with the song wafting out of the speakers.

_I'm dreaming of a white Christmas_

_Just like the ones I used to know_

_Where the tree tops glisten and children listen_

_To hear sleigh bells in the snow._

The blonde appeared in the entryway doorway and smiled at Rachel. She walked over to her and pulled her off of the couch and into her arms as she continues to sing. She took Rachel's hand and put the other one on Rachel's waist, continued to sing to her as they danced through the living room.

_I'm dreaming of a white Christmas_

_With every Christmas card I write_

_May your days be merry and bright_

_And may all your Christmases be white._

When the song was over, Quinn dipped down and captured Rachel's lips. Rachel beamed when she pulled away, "You seem to really encompass the Christmas spirit right now."

Quinn dropped the hand on her waist and pulled Rachel toward the stairs, "C'mon let's do this Santa thing so we can go to bed. I'm freezing."

After they as quietly as possible put all the Santa presents under the tree and in the stockings, they went upstairs and into Rachel's room. Quinn pulled the covers up around her while Rachel went to the closet and returned with a small wrapped box. She walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it.

"Here's one of your presents," Rachel handed Quinn a small wrapped box.

Quinn reaches over and takes Rachel's hand, "Why are you so nervous? It's just a present. I'll love it no matter what just because you gave it to me."

Rachel forced a smiled, "I hope so."

Quinn opened it to find a mix CD. "Can't go wrong with music." She kissed Rachel. "What's on it?"

"Why don't you put it on?"

Quinn nodded and got off of the bed. She knelt down by the CD player. After she was done fumbling with it she stood up only to find Rachel gone.

"Rach?"

She steps out of the bathroom clad only in lingerie. "I was getting your other present wrapped."

Quinn's mouth dropped open. "I-I... Oh. My. God."

Rachel smiled a little at Quinn's speechlessness. She walked over to the blonde and guided her onto the bed.

As soon as her lips touched Quinn's she felt the blonde's hands on her hips. She moaned when Quinn ran her hands up her sides. Quinn moved her lips to Rachel's exposed neck.

Soon Quinn was on her back with Rachel hovering over her, slowly inching Quinn's shirt up before lifting it over her head.

"Rach," Quinn moaned and arched her back when Rachel gently ran her teeth over Quinn's collarbone.

"Hmm?"

"Look at me," Quinn barely managed to get out.

Rachel lifted her head to catches the blue eyes. Quinn brought both of her hands up to Rachel's jaw and brought her down for a long passionate kiss.

When she pulled away she asked, "Are you sure about this? I can wait."

Rachel grinned at the question and kissed Quinn again, "I'm sure."

After spending the better part of two hours finding out how to make each other soar, they lay in bed, naked and glistening, Rachel looked at Quinn who's eyes were drooping. She smiled and kissed Quinn's shoulder, "Go to sleep."

"Mhmm," Quinn nodded, exhausted and kisses Rachel's cheek. "You're amazing. Merry Christmas Rach."

"Merry Christmas Quinn," Rachel murmured her eyes sliding shut, "Love you."


	33. Chapter 33

"Santana!" Brittany quietly squealed.

Santana slowly opened one eye, a slow smile spreading across her face.

"It's Christmas," the blonde was nearly bouncing up and down on the bed.

The head Cheerio sat up and saw that there was a present sitting between her and Brittany. She picked it up and eyed Brittany.

"Open it."

Santana ripped open the paper and found a small jewelry box. When she opened it, she found a swirly heart necklace. She looked at her the bracelet that was already on her wrist and saw the same heart on charm on her bracelet. "Where did you find this? I've been looking everywhere for one."

"I know," Brittany grinned, "It took forever to find it. I found it in Toledo while me and Rachel and her dads were Christmas shopping."

Santana threw her arms around Brittany and tackled her back on the bed, showering her with kisses.

"C'mon," Santana got out of bed and took Brittany's hand, "Your present is under the tree."

Santana and Brittany snuck downstairs, Santana praying the whole way that Rachel and Quinn remembered their job before getting busy.

Once downstairs Brittany squealed with excitement. There were presents everywhere. Rachel's dads walked out of their room at the first sign of noise and smiled at the girls who were already up.

"I'll go get Quinn and Rachel and we can open presents," Stephen sipped his coffee and started to walk up the stairs. When he got to Rachel's door he lightly knocked, "Rachel, Quinn, wake up. Santa's been here." When he heard a faint grumbled that sounded like his daughter, he smiled and made his way back downstairs.

Quinn and Rachel appeared a few minutes earlier, hand in hand. They both sleepily plopped down on the loveseat and leaned on each other.

"Late night?" Santana teased.

Rachel's eyes widened because her dads were sitting right behind Santana, but neither one seemed to notice because they were both worrying over a coffee stain on Trevor's pajama pants.

It didn't take long for the whole living room to become covered in wrapping paper and ribbon. Quinn and Rachel woke up thoroughly when they unwrapped their matching brand new iPods. Brittany was having the most fun of all, but started to get her Santa presents and other presents mixed up which Santana decided was a good thing because when she, Quinn, and Rachel were wrapping them they all got them mixed up as well.

"Hey look my iPod is preloaded with the best of Streisand," Santana grinned at Rachel's dads.

"I couldn't help myself," Trevor laughed.

Santana was about to add something when her phone rang on the floor next to her. She smiled and answered it, "Feliz Navidad Abuela!" Santana stood up and left the room so she wouldn't disturb anyone else.

"I should call my mom because she doesn't know…" Quinn trailed off and looked at Rachel's dads, "How did you know I was here?"

"We figured you'd want to spend Christmas with your girlfriend," Trevor shrugged and started to wad up the wrapping paper.

"Girlfriend?" Rachel blurted out.

Quinn was a little calmer about it, "How did you know?"

"We're not blind," Stephen chuckled, "You two are here all the time. And by the way, since you are dating, we expect you to abide by the same open door policy that Brittany and Santana usually adhere to."

"Yes daddy," Rachel quietly answered. She looked at Quinn who seemed really nonchalant about being found out. Then a huge smile took over her face, "Guess what I can do now?"

"What?" Quinn asked with a matching smile.

"This," Rachel leaned forward and captured Quinn's lips.

Rachel's daddy conferred with his husband and then turned to Brittany, "Brittany honey. Can we speak to you for a moment?"

Brittany nodded and stood up, glancing back at the door Santana just walked out of. She could see her girlfriend having an animated conversation with grandmother. She followed Brittany's dads out of the room and up the stairs.

"What are they doing?" Santana asked with her phone still to her ear having seen the two men and Brittany walk toward the stairs.

Rachel raised her eyebrows and nodded.

"Already?" Santana asked. She turned back to her phone, "I gotta go Abuela. Te Amo." She hung up and walked over to the couch, watching the top of the stairs and listening for any sound that might be coming down.

"What's going on?" Quinn asked, looking between the two.

Rachel paused before answering, "My dads are going to talk to Brittany about…adoption."

"Like adopting Brittany?" Quinn asked, "What happened to her dad?"

"It would be like a joint custody thing," Rachel explained looking at Santana who was having trouble sitting still. "They kind of need to in case something happens to Brittany or her dad while he's out of the country."

The blonde nodded, "That makes sense." She looked at Santana, "Are you okay?"

Santana was leaning with her forearms on her knees, her folded hands resting against her mouth. She looked at Quinn and shook her head, "I just…I wanna be up there."

"They're not going to pressure her," Rachel assured Santana.

"I know," Santana stood up and started pacing, "I-I'm always there."

Rachel stood up, disengaging from Quinn's hands and walked over to Santana. She pulled the head Cheerio into a hug and added, "I know you're always with Brittany when something important happens. I know this is probably killing you, but I think it's something she needs to do on her own. Brittany will be part of this family no matter what she decides up there, legally or not." Rachel grinned, "And someday you'll be my sister-in-law."

Santana chuckled and shook her head. A year ago, she could have never thought that Rachel could have been any part of her family, much less a part of her everyday life. She pulled out of the embrace, "Thanks Rachel."

"Yes!" Quinn called from her place on the couch.

Both Santana and Rachel looked at her.

The blonde mumbled, "What? The Charlie Brown Christmas Special starts in two minutes."

Rachel chuckled and turned on the TV. Santana fell back onto the couch and tried to focus on the TV, but all she could think about what Brittany upstairs.

Just as the closing credits rolled, the blonde dancer started to make her way down the stairs. Santana noticed that Brittany looked like she'd been crying, but she didn't seem sad anymore.

Rachel turned off the TV and all eyes were on Brittany as she walked into the living room. Santana stood up, but hesitated to walk over to her.

Finally Rachel spoke up, "So, do I have a new sister?"

Brittany let out a hundred watt smile and nodded.

"Santana!" Brittany quietly squealed.


	34. Chapter 34

Unfortunately the Christmas break didn't last long if you were a Cheerio. The day after Christmas the girls were gathered in the gym, practicing like it was just another day.

Rachel noticed that the girls were staring at her oddly throughout practice. It was more obvious than usual. Rachel just gave them a tentative smile and did everything she was supposed to. Even the girls in her newbie squad were looking at her weird. She looked in the mirror before coming out of the locker room. She was sure it wasn't her hair or something on her face or between her teeth.

"Do I look different?" Rachel asked Brittany and the other flyer as they all hopped up on the trampoline near the end of practice.

Brittany shook her head, "What are you talking about?"

"Um, Santana?" one of the Cheerios called the Captain who was walking around inspecting everyone.

Santana looked at the girl and rolled her eyes. Katie felt it was her job to spy on everyone and inform her about what they were doing. However, if Katie was seen talking to her, the other girls would know that Santana could find out anything and that kept them in line outside of practice.

"What?" Santana crossed her arms.

"You'll never guess who I saw making out on their front porch on Christmas Eve…"

Just as Brittany had finished getting the flyers stretched out, Santana's voice barking out, "Quinn," rang through the gym. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch Santana stalk out of the gym. Quinn scurried after her, looking bewildered.

"Uh oh," Brittany stopped bouncing on the trampoline. She hopped down and looked at Rachel who looked just as worried.

When Santana and Quinn didn't return for the end of practice stretches, Brittany led everyone before dismissing the group.

"What do you think happened?" Rachel asked Brittany as they walked to the locker room in a group of Cheerios.

The blonde shrugged, "I don't know." She stopped at her locker, which was by the front door.

Rachel sighed continued to make her way to her locker, which was isolated in the back of the locker room. She smiled to herself when she remembered why Quinn had put her back there by herself. When she got to the last row, she walked to the only locker with a lock on it and spun it around.

However before she could even start to get changed, a group of older Cheerios walked up to her. They sort of formed a semi-circle around her and Rachel started to get nervous from the menacing looks on their faces. "H-Hi?"

"Cut the crap and spill it," one of the girls stood in front of the rest, "Is it true? Are you gay for Fabray?"

Rachel's mouth dropped open. "I-I what?"

"Are you and Quinn going Brokeback Mountain on us?" the girl asked.

Before Rachel could formulate some sort of answer, Coach Sylvester walked to the last row of lockers, "Are you having a powwow back here? What's going on?"

"Nothing Coach," the mean girl answered, "We were just talking to one of the new girls."

Coach Sylvester's eyes went to Rachel who looked very frightened at this point. She narrowed her eyes and surveyed the situation. Then she stated, "Everyone clear out."

The girls started to file out. Rachel grabbed her purse and closed her locker, fully intending to sprint out to her car and wait for Quinn.

"Not you," Coach Sylvester stopped Rachel with one look. When Rachel stopped cold, Sue added, "You can sing right?"

Rachel found the question ridiculous because Sue had been trying to keep the glee club down. The very glee club that Rachel herself sang the majority of solos for. "Yes."

"As good as that gay kid and Lexus?" Coach Sylvester asked.

"Kurt and Mercedes?" Rachel asked just to clarify and then remembered one of the things Brittany taught her when dealing with Coach Sylvester. Self-assuredness. "Of course."

Coach Sylvester gave her an approving nod, "Good. You're staying late tomorrow." With that, she walked off.

Just soon as Coach Sylvester was out of sight, Rachel walked to Brittany's locker where the blonde was just getting finished changing. Rachel quietly asked, while eyeing the girls around them that were looking at her suspiciously, "Where are Quinn and Santana?"

"Santana texted me and said they needed to talk so I need to get a ride home with you," Brittany explained, oblivious to the stares.

Rachel couldn't take the stares anymore so she said, "I'll be in my car," before she stormed out of the locker room. As she walked Rachel tried calling Quinn. She had no luck and Quinn didn't answer. So she sent a quick text before locking herself in her car in case the crazy mob came after her again.

It wasn't long before Brittany waved goodbye to all of the Cheerios and walked out to the car. She smiled at Rachel as she got into the car. "You did really good at practice today. Maybe next week we can work on your back flip."

Rachel turned the car on and drove out of the parking lot without a word. It took a couple stoplights, but Brittany figured out that Rachel was upset, "Are you okay?"

"I-um," Rachel shook her head. "Some of the girls cornered me after practice and asked if I was 'gay for Fabray'."

Brittany looked over at Rachel, "How did they find out?"

"I don't know," Rachel shrugged and pulled into their driveway. Tears started to form in her eyes and she looked over at Brittany, "And now she won't talk to me."

The blonde reached over the center console and took Rachel's hand, trying to reassure her without really knowing what to say.

Quinn sniffed and wiped the sparse tears on her face. She took a deep breath and looked out over the McKinley campus. She'd never been on the roof of the auditorium before but when Santana suggested it, it seemed like a great place to get away.

Santana didn't know what to say. She just sat there, on the roof of the auditorium, waiting for Quinn to talk.

"If my mom finds out…" Quinn whispered, "She's gonna kick me out."

"Doesn't she like Rachel's dads?" Santana asked trying to get Quinn to think logically.

"That doesn't matter," Quinn shook her head, "It's different. I'm her daughter. It's just…different."

Santana looked to the setting sun and thought for a moment before standing, "C'mon, you're gonna stay with me, at least for tonight. You need some space where no one will mess with you." She offered her hand to Quinn.

The blonde stood up and when she did, she hugged Santana. "I missed being friends with you."

Santana let out a lazy smile. "Yeah me too." She patted Quinn's back, not really used to physical contact that wasn't her family or Brittany. "Let's get home. My grandma is making dinner."

"I've missed Abuela's tamales more," Quinn added.

Santana playfully pushed her and led the way down the ladder, back into the fly space of the theatre.

Rachel's phone rang in her lap as she and Brittany sat in her car, both being abnormally quiet. Rachel hoped that it was Quinn calling her back, but instead she saw her daddy's face light up the screen. She took a deep breath and put it on speaker, "Hey daddy."

"Hey honey," he paused. "Is Brittany with you?"

"I'm right here," Brittany replied.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Rachel asked. She could hear his voice shaking in the few short words he uttered.

"There was an accident. Your dad and I were putting the Christmas decorations up in the attic to get ready for our annual New Year's bash," he explained quickly, the way Rachel does when she's upset. "He tripped over a box and fell through the ceiling. He landed on his back and hit his head on the garage floor."

"Is he okay?" Brittany blurted out.

"He's…he's doing better than before," Trevor's voice was starting to crack.

Quinn was laying on the bed in the guest room of the Lopez house. She was full from dinner and comfortable on the bed, but she couldn't be content. She kept looking at the door and wondering what was going to happen and if she was going to have any sort of control over it.

A tentative knock on the door sounded. Quinn called, "C'min," and sat up on the bed.

Santana slowly opened the door and leaned on the doorframe. Her eyes were trained on the ground and she fidgeted with the phone in her hand. "Brittany just called me."

"What happened?" Quinn grew concerned because Santana's eyes were beginning to get misty.

"Stephen fell through the floor of the attic," Santana brought her eyes up to Quinn. "He's in the hospital." She paused, "Brittany said he's hooked up to all kinds of stuff and he looks bad. My mom's going to drive me up there if you want to go."

Quinn didn't have to think twice. She threw on her jacket and followed Santana out the door.


	35. Chapter 35

As soon as they stepped in the door, Brittany saw both of them. She looked like she had been crying and Santana was at her side immediately. She held Brittany to her as she surveyed Stephen. He was badly bruised on one side of his face, under a line of gauze that wrapped around his head, and there were tubes and wires all over his body. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, drawing on all her years of training to comfort Brittany.

Quinn walked up behind Rachel who couldn't seem to rip her eyes away from her dad. The blonde walked up behind Rachel and wrapped her arms around the shorter girl's waist. Rachel gently took Quinn's hands and made the arms around her tighter. Quinn kissed the side of Rachel's head before resting her chin on Rachel's shoulder.

Santana's mom walked over to Trevor who had steeled himself for the benefit of the girls. She put her hand on his shoulder and murmured, "I'm so sorry."

He nodded a stiff nod and took a shaky breath, not able to produce any sound at the moment.

They all staying in the same positions for a while, just waiting for something to change. When nothing changed for almost an hour, Santana's mom took Santana and Quinn back to her house assuring them that if something happened they'd be the first to know.

Brittany agreeing with her mom was the only reason they were able to pry her away from Brittany. The blonde told Santana that she was about to take Rachel home too so there was no reason in staying.

Rachel turned to Quinn with questioning eyes. Quinn chose to ignore the questions. She kissed Rachel's forehead and ran her fingers the length of the long brown locks before leaving with the Lopezes.

Late that night, Quinn was laying in her bed, staring into the dark. Her tears had dried on her face. Santana had fallen asleep next to her, listening to Quinn worry about being kicked out, then beat herself for thinking about being kicked out when Rachel's dad was in the hospital.

She was finally able to fall into a restless sleep around midnight. However she was awakened by Santana's phone ringing a few minutes later. The head Cheerio grumbled as she dug through the sheets trying to find her phone. When she found it, she looked at the screen and immediately answered, "Hey baby….he did?…That's great Brit….okay…I'll come over tomorrow morning and bring breakfast…love you too. Bye." She hung up and sat up, fully intending to go to her own bed.

"What happened?" Quinn's voice stopped her.

Santana looked over and saw Quinn awake, "He's awake now. Brittany and Rachel are going home to get some sleep and their dads will go home in the morning."

"Good," Quinn quietly stated. She picked up her phone to see what time it was, but saw that she had a few text messages that she hadn't read. One from Finn and the other from Puck.

She opened Finn's first. _Hey, Rachel's not answering her texts. Heard about her dad and wanted to see if she was okay. Have you heard anything?_

She quickly replied, _Her dad's okay now and is going home tomorrow. She's at her house. _Then she opened the one from Puck. That one made her stomach tie into knots. _Why didn't you tell me about you and Berry? SO HOT! I'll be thinking about you later ;)_

Quinn looked at Santana who was almost out the door, "How did Puck find out?"

"Find out what?" Santana sighed, just wanting to go back to bed.

"About me and Rachel?" Quinn asked accusingly.

"I don't know," Santana shrugged. "I've been with you the whole time and haven't texted anyone but B. Why would I tell him?"

The blonde sighed and fell onto the bed, "I'm sorry."

"It was probably Katie and her big fucking mouth," Santana rolled her eyes and went back to Quinn's bed.

Quinn shook her head and suddenly felt extremely nauseous. "It's only a matter of time before my mom finds out. Someone is going to be on the phone with someone else and their parents are going to hear and they're going to tell my mom. Then I'm homeless again."

"Hey," Santana sternly caught Quinn's attention, "You will not be homeless. You can stay here. And although you're screwing their daughter, I bet Stephen and Trevor would let you stay there too. No matter what, you'll never be homeless."

Quinn unexpectedly hugged Santana. "Thanks San."

"Yeah, yeah," Santana tried to play it off like she didn't care all that much. Then she added, "Maybe it would be best if she found out from you."

"No way!" Quinn pulled away, "I can't tell her that."

"What are you going to do then?" Santana asked, "You can't hide from Rachel or your mom forever. Mostly because Brittany tells Rachel everything and my mom will tell your mom where you are."

"I just need time to figure out what I'm going to do," Quinn looked down at her hands.

Santana nodded. She understood Quinn's dilemma. It was the same one she struggled with before Brittany was kicked out. But after that happened, it wasn't even a question anymore. In order to protect Brittany, Santana needed to put everything out in the open and that's just what she did because Brittany came before everything else.

Quinn stayed at Santana's house for the next few days. She didn't get any calls from Rachel although she was sure that Rachel was busy with her dads.

"Do you need anything daddy?" Rachel asked as she walked down the stairs and into the living room where her dad was seated on the couch.

"No honey," he smiled, "I'm fine. I can get things on my own now. I'm just a little sore."

Rachel smiled sadly and sat on the couch next to him. "I know. I'm sorry."

He put his arm around her, "Where are Brittany and your daddy?"

"They're shopping for the food for the party tomorrow night," Rachel explained and rested her head on her dad's chest.

"Why aren't you with them?" he asked and kissed the top of her head.

She sighed, "I'm not feeling very well."

"Does it have anything to do with the reason Quinn stopped showing up here?" he asked.

She looked up at him surprised, "How did you know?"

"Regardless of if Quinn has been coming over, Santana has been and she and Brittany talk," he smiled and added, "A lot."

Rachel sighed and put her head back down, "I guess you know what happened,"

"Vaguely," he answered, "Some girl said something. She was named after a cereal and Quinn

was on the roof of something."

"At Cheerios practice one of the girls said that she saw Quinn kiss me on her front porch on Christmas Eve," Rachel explained, "Then some of the girls confronted me in the locker room about it. Brittany and I came home while Santana and Quinn stayed to talk. Then I tried to call Quinn and she didn't answer. Then she showed up in the hospital…like exactly when I needed her. She didn't have to say anything…she just…was there."

"Have you talked to her since?" her dad asked patiently.

"No," Rachel shook her head, "I-I'm scared. Now that this is all out, what if she doesn't want to be with me anymore? I mean she's Quinn Fabray. She's perfect."

"No one is perfect," he assured her.

"She is," Rachel sighed, tears in her eyes.

Her dad was quiet for a moment before he added, "Why don't you ask her to the New Year's Eve bash tomorrow night?"

"I dunno," Rachel sighed and closed her eyes, wishing that she knew what to say to Quinn to make everything go back to normal.

Santana looked at herself in the mirror, straightening out her dress. "I wish I would have remembered I was supposed to get dressed up."

"I like it when you wear that," Brittany grinned.

Santana walked over to the bed and played with Brittany's hair, "Really?"

"Yes," Brittany leaned forward and kissed Santana.

Santana smiled and smoothed out Brittany's hair. Then she reached behind the blonde and picked up their masks. She gently slid Brittany's purple sequin mask over her eyes and then put on her black sequin mask.

"We're so hot," Brittany giggled.

Santana captured Brittany in another kiss, softly sliding her lips against Brittany's. When she pulled away she grinned, "We are aren't we?" She took Brittany's hand and pulled her up, straightening out her dress.

Rachel had a handful of masks and was standing by the door handing them out to people who walked in. It didn't take long for the house to get full. As it neared eleven, the people coming in the front door started to thin out as did Rachel's hope of Quinn showing up.

However, Rachel stood at the door, doing her hostess duty by making sure that her and her dads' friends had their masks and were happy.

Kurt, Brittany, and Mercedes had found their way to the dance floor and Santana and Puck were sneaking champagne in the kitchen. As Santana poured, she glanced up and saw Brittany moving to the music. Her breathing had come to a halt and warmth spread through her body. She was so in love with Brittany at that very moment that the whole world seemed to stop.

"Santana!" Puck got her attention.

She looked down and saw that she had overfilled the glass and gotten champagne all over his hand. She chuckled, "Sorry."

When she got her champagne and Puck walked off, she started to go to the dance floor, but stopped dead. Her eyes narrowed and she pushed a few people out of the way to get to the object of her distain. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Schuyler looked at her with a cocky smiled, "Celebrating New Year's Eve."

"You need to leave," Santana growled. She glanced behind her to see if Brittany had seen Schuyler. She spotted Brittany starting to walk off of the makeshift dance floor just as the blonde spotted her. Brittany smiled and walked over, "Hey San we were going to go see if-" She trailed off when she saw Schuyler.

"Hey," Schuyler smiled.

Brittany's smile was hesitant, "Hey. What are you doing here?"

"I got an invite on Facebook from your friend," Schuyler indicated a short person with her hand.

Santana was fuming, "Rachel Berry!" She saw Rachel out of the corner of her eye jump. She stalked over to her and demanded to know, "Why the fuck did you invite Schuyler?"

Rachel's eyes widened, "I-I didn't mean to. I just invited all of my Facebook friends."

"Why is she your Facebook friend?" Santana asked.

"I'll delete her I swear," Rachel explained quickly, "I'm sorry Santana."

The head Cheerio turned around and saw Brittany hug Schuyler before the latter turned around and walked out the door. Brittany walked over to Santana and Rachel with a smile on her face.

"What'd you say?" Santana asked.

"I told her that it was nice that she was here, but that I didn't want to be with her," Brittany took Santana's hand, "I'm in love with someone else."

Santana couldn't help but let out a huge grin. She gathered Brittany into her arms and kissed her gently.

Rachel sighed at the two in front of her. She turned around and started to walk to the kitchen. As she was walking someone stood up on the coffee table. She tilted her head to see better and saw that her dads were up on the table. She put her head back down and kept walking. They were starting the countdown. She stood against the wall and watched her dads and their friends and even some of her own friends pair off.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…."

Rachel spotted Brittany and Santana sneak up the stairs both smiling at each other. She saw Santana tell Brittany she loved her as they got to the top of the stairs hand in and then disappeared down the hall to Brittany's room.

"Five, four, three, two, one…"

Rachel sighed and lowered her head. She didn't feel like watching everyone she knew kissing their significant others when she felt so alone.

"Happy New Year!"

Someone grabbed Rachel's hand and spun her around, planting a light kiss on her lips. Rachel immediately knew who's lips they were and threaded her hand through Quinn's hair.

When Quinn finally pulled away, Rachel looked up at her and then at what Quinn was wearing. "You look great, but you do know that anyone could have walked into the kitchen and saw us?"

"I don't care," Quinn let out a nervous smile, "I know you're scared because of your career and all, but I'm not scared anymore. I wanna be with you, secret or not. It's up to you."

Rachel thoughtfully played with the golden curls that flowed down Quinn's shoulders for a moment before looking up at her, "You know if we come out, there's no going back?"

Quinn nodded.

The dive took a deep breath, "Okay. Let's do it."

A playful grin took over Quinn's face.

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Not that perv. Well not yet." She tilted her head up and captured Quinn's lips, wrapping her arms around the blonde's neck.

"I love you too," Quinn said when they stepped apart and took each other's hand.

Rachel blinked. She looked at Quinn for a long moment before asking, "You heard me?"

Quinn nodded and pulled Rachel toward the party.

After a pause, Rachel allowed Quinn to pull her out the door and into the mess of people, hand in hand, together.

"Happy New Year," Santana smiled at Brittany as they lay in her bed. Then she looked out the window, "Look B."

Brittany rolled onto her side and could see fireworks going off out her window. She smiled when Santana wrapped her arms around her middle. She leaned back into Santana, letting the brunette kiss her neck.

"I love you," Santana murmured against her neck, "Always."

Brittany thought back over the year. Yes, Santana had proven that no matter what she would always be loved. She's also learned over this past year that you can make your own family. She had two new dads and a new sister to prove it.

Brittany rolled back over to face Santana, "I love you too." She kissed Santana, letting her eyes flutter closed. Although it wasn't easy, the past year was a year she'd never forget.

* * *

That's the end. Hope everyone enjoyed.


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